Curveballs
by TheCookieMonster77
Summary: You'd think from all the lemons life's already given them, the university life wouldn't catch them off guard so much. A Fairy Tail college/university au series, mostly based on the crazy shit that happens to me in college (nothing to do with baseball, despite what the title suggests). *Title image off internet*
1. Boy Troubles

Title: Boy Troubles

Summary: Poor Gajeel can't catch a break.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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AN: I was originally planning on giving this thing a plot but I have enough WIPs already. So, this is more of a slice-of-life au based on/inspired by the weird stuff that happens to me in college (plus a few college stories from friends). Updates are sporadic. Figure all chapters are individual one-shots with vague links to each other and all occur in the same universe. No particular order to them either, though that might change later. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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Her books wobble and Lucy gives a strained yelp as she sways awkwardly to keep the tower of books in her arms from falling over. She ignores the librarian's glare and Lucy's purse slides to her elbow as she slams her hand on top of the stack. Unfortunately, this just makes the situation worse and Lucy hastily jogs over to a table nearby and dumps her books a second before they would have fallen completely out of her arms.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy notices that the table already has an occupant. "Sorry," she says distractedly, cringing at the librarian's stink eye.

"Hey Bunny Girl."

Lucy blinks and finally turns around to see Gajeel sulking next to her. Lucy lets out a small sigh of relief. She always feels awkward when she barges onto a stranger's table. "Hi Gajeel, I didn't notice you there."

Lucy stacks up the books before turning to Gajeel, surprised he didn't retort like he usually did. She's surprised to see him hunching his shoulders more, listlessly blowing some strands of hair out of his face and alternating between glaring at the corner and staring forlornly at the table. Lucy follows his glare and sees Levy bent over a table, her head pressed up against another student's. Lucy eyes the long, luscious green hair enviously before the person sits up. Lucy watches with puckered lips as the guy - a rather pretty guy at that - ties up his hair in a pony tail. It marginally helps mitigate the way his hair clashes horribly with his deep red coat but maybe he's just getting ready to celebrate christmas early?

She looks over at Gajeel who's gone back to glaring at the table. She shouldn't find it funny that the normally confident, almost arrogant guy looks so crushed. She tries to swallow a laugh but fails, giving a strangled giggle.

Gajeel glares at her. "Shaddup."

Lucy presses her lips together but can't suppress her snort. "Jealous much?"

Gajeel growls. "Shut up!" His eyes flick back over to Levy and his gaze darkens when Levy squeals and hugs the guy. Gajeel growls again before pointedly tearing his eyes away. "I don't care who she dates."

Lucy raises an eyebrow. "Good, because Levy's kissing him now. She'll regret that, it's against library policy."

"_What?_" Gajeel whips around, jostling the table in his haste. He growls once at the grouchy librarian before staring at Levy again. Levy nods at the green haired boy while packing up her stuff, a good foot and half separating them. Gajeel slumps again and sighs loudly. Lucy giggles and he tenses up again before whipping back around to glare at Lucy.

Lucy wriggles her eyebrows suggestively. "Not jealous huh?"

Gajeel groans and slams his head down onto the table, shaking the table enough that Lucy's books fall over again. He grunts when one of her books slides and hits him on his cheek. "Sorry."

Lucy rolls her eyes and whacks him lightly upside the head. She notices Levy heading over and she smirks with glee. Levy raises her eyebrows at her and Lucy laughs. "Hey Levy."

Gajeel grunts and Levy looks down at him with a small frown. "Hiya Lucy."

Gajeel sits up faster than a spring board. He flushes under Levy's inquiring gaze. "Levy! Uh, hi, didn't think you were actually there." His blush deepens. "Thought Bunny Girl was teasing me again," he mutters.

Levy's eyebrows draw together. "What?"

Gajeel jumps in his seat. "Nothing!"

"Okay…" Levy drawls, turning to Lucy, who's smirking deviously. "What are you doing here?"

"Just getting some books." Lucy eyes the back of Gajeel's head and his darkening ears, her grin grows wider. "Who were you sitting with?"

Levy's eyes light up and Lucy can see Gajeel hunch in his shoulders. "His name's Freed. He's such a sweetie. Smart too."

"That why you were hugging and being all sweet on him?" Gajeel mutters sullenly.

"What?" Levy yelps.

Gajeel blinks. "What?"

Levy frowns. "What'd you say?"

Gajeel blinks again. "What?"

Levy gives him a deadpan stare. She crosses her arms and turns to Lucy.

Lucy swallows another giggle. "Metalhead over here," she says with a small slap on his shoulder, "and I were wondering why you were hanging out with Freed. I've never seen him before."

Levy's shoulders relax. "Oh. He's a third year CSE and an absolute whiz with computers. Did you know he's already working for Bank of Fiore and even teaching their full time programmers how to set up good software security?" Levy's eyes sparkle and Gajeel's shoulders tense up under Lucy's palm. "When I was having trouble in class and talked to my professor, he said he'd ask an old student of his if he was willing to help me out."

Lucy cocks her head to the side. "So Freed's your personal tutor?"

Levy nods happily and Gajeel growls. Levy blinks at him, seemingly surprised at his glare. "_Personal_ tutor? Is that why you hugged him?"

Levy's eyebrows hit her hairline and she looks at Lucy with a surprised expression. Lucy just grins and waves between Levy and Gajeel, hoping Levy somehow gets the message.

"Um." Levy blinks again and turns back to Gajeel. "Well, I was happy that he helped me out, yeah, but, uh, he had seemed a bit distracted and upset throughout the session. When I asked what was up, he said that he was going to ask the guy he likes out on a date and was nervous. He has a really sweet plan and I hugged him because it sounded adorable and I thought it would help with his nerves."

Gajeel's smile nearly splits his face in two. "He's gay?"

Levy scratches her cheek. "I got more of a bi vibe from him. What do you think Lu?"

Lucy cocks her head to the side. "Nah, he's totally gay. You're going to have to tell me what his plan is later, it sounds interesting."

"He's gay?" Gajeel grins wider. "You really think so?"

Levy frowns slightly. "Yeah."

"Good," Gajeel says happily. He relaxes in his seat and stares off slightly to the side with unfocused eyes.

Lucy smacks her forehead.

"Oh," Levy says quietly. She fidgets a bit before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. "Um, Gajeel?"

Gajeel turns to her, still smiling wide. "Yeah?"

Levy scratches the back of her neck. "Uh, don't get your hopes up."

Gajeel blinks and slumps. A crestfallen look flashes across his face before the usual mask of indifference slams back into place. "What are you talking about?"

Levy fidgets. "Look, I'm sorry if you have a crush on Freed but, he said he was going to ask a guy named Laxus out. He doesn't like you."

Gajeel's jaw hits the floor. He tries to speak but nothing comes out, leaving him looking like a goldfish.

Lucy wraps both hands around her mouth to hold in her giggles. She tries to take a discreet breath of air and a snort escapes.

Gajeel goes as stiff as a statue before he jumps up and slams his hands down on the table, drawing everyone's attention to the trio.

"I'm not gay!"

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AN: Bc I need to specify - Gajeel is actually queer (I headcanon him as heterosexual, demiromantic), he's just worried that Levy doesn't think he'd ever be into her (she's kinda oblivious, much to her friends' amusement and Gajeel's frustration lol) so he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. I later realized that this almost came off as Gajeel saying "no no, I'm not gay ew!" to me and I just wanted to clear up any possible confusion over that. (The other planned ending would mean I'd have to write another 1k words and I'm sorry but that's not happening, I don't have that in me at the moment.)

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	2. Hard Homework

Chapter Title: Hard Homework

Chapter Summary: Gajeel did not sign up for this shit.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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AN: Just to make sure everyone knows, ME refers to being a mechanical engineering major (generally deals with engineering anything that moves) and CSE refers to being a computer science engineer (generally deals with developing computer systems, software, and hardware). Enjoy!

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Levy stretches over the back of her chair, sighing in relief when her stiff back pops pleasurably. She really ought to be more careful about going on study binges for long periods of times. She tips her head back, taking a small break from her mountain of homework to revel in the peaceful study room.

"God fucking dammit!"

Levy jerks forward in surprise. She doesn't know what to make of Gajeel glaring at his computer, a murderous look in his eyes. She cocks her head to the side, a little tempted to reach out and smooth his furrowed brow. "Hard homework?"

"Hard?" Gajeel growls. "Try impossible." He bangs his fist on the table and the entire room seems to shake. "I'm doing everything the teacher tells me to do but it doesn't work!" Levy frowns as Gajeel's fists clench and unclench. He manages to reign his temper in so that he doesn't throw his laptop across the room before slamming his forehead down onto the table.

He doesn't surface and Levy raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Gajeel growls again and raises his head a bit. "It's impossible, be glad you aren't a ME. I signed up to make engines, not this programming shit!"

Levy perks up and smiles. "You're taking a computer programming class?"

"Have to, it's a core class. Shit sucks," Gajeels moans. "I don't think anyone could understand this."

Levy's grin grows. "Try me."

Gajeel sits up fully and raises both of his eyebrows. He smirks in a challenge.

Levy taps her naked wrist. "Time's a-wastin'," she sings. "I'm a CSE major so, I doubt you're working on something I can't help with."

Gajeel's eyes light up with hope. "Excel?"

Levy freezes and her mouth drops open. Gajeel slumps, his chin resting on the table. "Nevermind," he mutters, dejection obvious in his tone.

Levy opens and closes her mouth before bursting into laughter. She doubles over and Gajeel jerks upright, confusion stamped across his face. "What?"

Levy gasps and her head falls onto the table as she fails to stay upright. She giggles again, clutching her stomach. "You're having trouble," she gasps, taking big gulps of hair before clutching her stomach again. Levy gasps a few more times before heaving herself upright. She wipes away the tears gathered at her eyes and hiccups. "You're having trouble writing excel macros?" she asks, another high pitched giggle escaping her.

Gajeel perks up, albeit warily. "You know what I'm talking about?"

Levy hiccups and she tries to swallow down her giggles. "Gajeel, that's like, the most basic type of computer programming. Like, I've been doing it since I was twelve, type of easy."

Gajeel gapes at her before sullenly turning to his computer, his ears a bright fuschia. A stab of guilt flashes through her and Levy presses her lips together. She supposes laughing was a bit mean. It wasn't his fault if he was bad with programming. "Oh, calm down," she mutters as she stands to peer over his shoulder. "Here," she said, pointing to a small portion of the program. "The variable's under defined. The computer can't give you an answer that doesn't exist. A way to avoid that in the future is to type 'Option Explicit' at the beginning of each program. You still have to remember to define everything but at least the computer will tell you what's wrong."

Gajeel sullenly corrects it but perks up when the program works. She doesn't think he realizes she can see the adorable grin pulling at his lips so she doesn't call him out on it, even if him looking like an excited puppy makes her want to glomp him. She sits back down on her own seat and Gajeel turns to her, smile suppressed and awkwardly twitching as he fidgets. "Um, could you, err, look at some others? You ought to be able to make them better." Gajeel flushes and looks off to the side, his lower lip sticking out sullenly.

Levy's grin stretches from ear to ear. "Of course!"

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	3. Puppy Eyes

Chapter Title: Puppy Eyes

Chapter Summary: No matter how he tries, he'll never be immune.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**.

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AN: This is one of the homecoming chapters (it's a big thing at my school; there's a big carnival, lots of dances, random activities, free stuff - it's great). This one has one or two references to different chapters but it's nothing big and shouldn't affect the chapter.

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Gajeel grumbles as Levy hops alongside him, looking ridiculously adorable (not he'll never admit it). She grins up at him and he nearly smiles back, barely able to hold it in and remind himself that he's supposed to be irritated that she dragged him to this stupid carnival. He bites his tongue and pretends that his heart isn't thumping oddly against his ribs.

Levy laughs and pokes him in the stomach. "Come on Gajeel, lighten up! You are so having fun."

Gajeel levels a flat stare at her and wills himself to keep sulking. Her excitement is slightly contagious but, he doesn't want to deal with her gloating, even if her face lights up wonderfully when she does. "It's stupid. I didn't like homecoming in high school and I sure as hell don't like it now."

Levy laughs again and spins in a circle. "But look at it! Rides, games, food, free stuff...what isn't there to like? Seriously Gajeel, _free stuff_."

Gajeel rolls his eyes. "It's just a bunch of shit you're going to be throwing out later, who cares? And we're not kids, dammit!" he growls, gesturing at her hands.

Levy blinks and looks down at the bubble wand and bottle she's holding. She grins mischievously and blows some bubbles onto him. "But, they're bubbles Gajeel!"

"What are you, three?" Gajeel grumbles, waving his hands wildly in front of him. Bubbles make his piercings sticky and he doesn't want to clean them _again_. Stupid dye.

Levy laughs and blows some more onto him. "Gajeel, they're _bubbles_."

Gajeel frowns at her and makes a wild swing for the bubble wand. He misses but isn't too upset, not with the way Levy's hips sway as she dances out of the way. He grins and stalks after her. "They're irritating." He swipes at the wand again but Levy laughs as she skips out of the way. "They mess with my piercings and," he growls, snatching the wand out of her hand with a triumphant grin, "the wands make piss poor bubbles anyways."

Levy raises her eyebrow and dumps some of the bubble solution into her hand. She laughs at his surprised expression and cups her hand together oddly. She starts blowing, making a bubble as big as his head.

Gajeel yelps as she pushes the bubble towards him. Unfortunately, she was already pretty close and the bubble bursts onto his face, momentarily stunning him. _Dammit_. He growls.

Levy laughs, completely unconcerned. "Lighten up, it's fun!"

Gajeel rolls his eyes. "You're the only one who would find this much fun with a kid's activity."

"Oh really?" Levy raises her eyebrows and nods over his shoulder with a smirk.

Gajeel looks over his shoulder and sees Natsu chasing bubbles with an expression of utter delight. Lucy's laughing as she blows more and more bubbles for him to chase, goading Natsu on. Gajeel turns away from them with a dismissive snort. "Those two idiots don't count."

Levy just smirks and blows more bubbles at him.

Gajeel sighs. "You're not giving up until I act like a seven year old, are you?"

"Gajeel, _bubbles_. You can't deny the bubbles. It's a fact of life." Levy tosses her hair over her shoulder and sticks her nose up in the air. "I will get you to openly display that inner child of yours, don't you doubt it."

"I'm not," he mutters.

"Eh?"

"Nothing." Gajeel looks for a distraction and grimaces when he finds one over Levy's head. He has the sneaking suspicion he's going to regret this. "Wasn't Bunny Girl saying she wanted to ride the ferris wheel when the line finally died down?"

Levy cocks her head to the side and looks over at the cycling death machine. She notices that it has no line and squeals in delight. "Lucy!"

Lucy looks over and sees Levy frantically waving towards the ride. Gajeel can see the exact moment Lucy realizes the ferris wheel doesn't have a fifteen minute wait anymore by the way her face lights up. She grabs Natsu and drags him over, powering past the duo in her eagerness. "Come on slow pokes! The line won't stay gone forever!"

Levy grabs Gajeel's hand and drags him after the other two dorks. Gajeel tries digging in his heels but Levy has a surprising strength and determination right now and keeps tugging him off balance. His grimaces when he reaches the ferris wheel. "I'm not going on that."

Levy stops abruptly and whirls on her heel, sticking her hands on her hips and pouting. "Why not!"

_Oh, that is so not fair_. Gajeel scowls and tears his eyes away from Levy's big, brown eyes and glares up at the death trap. "I don't do ferris wheels."

Levy rolls her eyes and drags Gajeel forward a few more steps. She stops next Lucy and exchanges a look with her before glaring at Natsu. "You too?"

Gajeel looks down at Natsu in surprise and instantly recognizes the familiar look of dread and clammy face.

Natsu gulps. "How about you three go on while I wait down here?"

"Actually, just the two of you can do it and I'll wait with Natsu."

"But...it's a ferris wheel," Lucy whines.

Natsu gulps audibly. "Exactly."

Gajeel nods and claps Natsu's shoulder. "We'll wait here."

Lucy and Levy both pout. And use puppy eyes. "Please," they said in unison.

_Seriously, no fair_.

Natsu lets out a slight whine next to him but doesn't protest too much as Lucy drags him onto the ferris wheel. She squeezes his arm and he looks marginally better until the ferris wheel starts moving.

Levy squeals in excitement and drags Gajeel forward. He gingerly sits in the carriage, trying to focus on Lucy's excited chatter behind him. Levy hops up next to him and he nearly bolts as the conductor straps him and Levy in. He clenches the bar as the ferris wheel jolts into motion. His vision swims as his stomach rolls and his toes go all tingly. _I will not puke, I will not puke, I will not puke_.

Levy's talking about something or another and is completely oblivious to Gajeel's turmoil. The ferris wheel jerks to a stop and Gajeel swallows heavily as the car sways back and forth gently. He focuses on Levy's voice and some of the nausea goes away.

The ferris wheel jerks into motion again and Gajeel bends over the bar as his lunch threatens to reappear. The ride stops again but Levy's twisting in her seat and making the carriage swinging back and forth more violently (which makes no sense because there's no way she has the weight or muscle to move the cart this much).

"Gajeel?"

The ferris wheel jerks into motion and Gajeel can't bite back his groan as his stomach starts jumping. He tries leaning back instead but the world keeps spinning.

"Gajeel?"

They jerk to a stop towards the top and Gajeel can see Natsu hanging out of his cart in the corner of his vision. He grunts in sympathy and his stomach rolls again.

"Gajeel!"

Gajeel's eyes flick towards Levy. He swallows the bitter taste in his mouth. "What?"

Levy blinks at him. "Do you have motion sickness?"

Gajeel opens his mouth but the ferris wheel jerks forward and he slams both of his hands over his mouth as he leans forward. He can hear Levy saying something but can't make out the words through the swirling landscape or nausea climbing up his throat. He can't bite back his groan as the wheel starts spinning faster.

The rest of the ferris wheel ride was a blur of bile, color, and stomach rolls. Gajeel steadily curses in the back of his head and almost tries jumping out at one point but, his head is swirling and something's tugging him back. An eternity of torture passes before the ferris wheel lurches to a stop briefly. Gajeel gets some of his nausea under control before the torture wheel jerks again. Luckily, it stops soon and the bar lifts so Gajeel can hastily crawl away from the thing.

He stumbles across Natsu who's laying on the grass and collapses next to him. "Never again," he rasps.

"Good lord, you two are pathetic."

Gajeel groans again and Natsu whines pitifully. Why did he ever let those damn puppy eyes interfere with his good sense?

One of the girls nudge his back with their foot. "If you guys have motion sickness you should've just said something!"

"But...it's not…it's sad," Natsu protests, lifting his head slightly before falling back onto the grass with a groan.

"And whining on the grass is any different?" Lucy huffs. "This is ridiculous!"

The girl - he's pretty sure it's Levy but his senses are all skewed right now - nudges him with her foot again. Gajeel manages to roll over and peek up against the glare. He can vaguely make out blue hair before he closes his eyes again against the sun.

Levy bends down and pokes him in the forehead, huffing at his pitiful groan. "Save me from men's stupidity. Come on Lu, let's let the two idiots recover while we ride it again."

The girls leave but Gajeel can't protest. He can vaguely hear the two chattering as they get on the ride, laughing loudly. Nausea turns his stomach again and Gajeel tunes everything out until the world stops spinning so much. He grunts and throws his arm towards Natsu, his hand landing on Natsu's arm rather than the moron's face like he intended. Natsu grunts. "You're an idiot," Gajeel mutters.

"Hey! You went on it too!"

Gajeel doesn't sit up and he glares up at the blue, blue sky. "Your fault. You let Lucy drag you away and I couldn't leave Levy all by herself. I was bein' a gentleman."

Natsu laughs. "Bullshit."

Gajeel grunts. "It's called chivalry, dumbass."

He can hear the girls passing on the ride, shrieking with laughter. Both call out something to the two guys but the actual words are snatched away by the breeze. Natsu chuckles. "I think we both know that's not what I'm talking about," he says softly.

He sees the ferris wheel stop out of the corner of his eye and the two girls stumble out, laughing and clutching each other's shoulders. Gajeel feels something warm spark in his chest. Stupid Natsu, suddenly sounding smart and everything. Levy comes closer, a bounce in her step and face glowing.

"Damn puppy eyes," he mutters.

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	4. Early Birds

Title: Early Birds

Summary: Some people are morning people. Others...aren't.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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AN: Just in case you don't know the lingo, GE refers to general education classes. They're quite boring and for the most part useless, though good for boosting your GPA.

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Juvia carefully aligns her notebook so that it lays perfectly straight in front of her, open to crisp new page. Her favorite pen lays parallel to it, perfectly aligned and ready for her to grab it, and her spare is at the top of her desk, just in case something happens to her first one. She sits perfectly straight, sharp eyes trained on the board in front of her.

The clock ticks and Juvia's eyes briefly dart to it and then flick around the mostly empty lecture hall. Her stomach twists uncomfortably and Juvia has to take a deep breath and remind herself that yes, she has the right room, just as the other student in here (she thinks his name is Dan) had assured her three minutes ago. All she has to do is to remember that not everyone likes to show up thirty minutes early to an seven am like her.

The clock ticks again and some more students slowly straggle in. One or two give her and Dan disbelieving looks while trying to cover up yawns or taking big gulps out of their travel mugs. She overhears Dan reassure another student that he was in the right room and they both hope it's an easy GE out loud. Their conversation turns to the generic introduction of names and "what's your major"s and Juvia tunes them out, more interested in watching more students come in.

Most shoot dirty looks at the clock and rub tired eyes. Very few seem to be morning people like her and Juvia pursues her lips. The professor comes in at about ten minutes before class officially starts and the students quiet down for the most part, attempting to look more alert for a professor. The professional atmosphere is quickly broken when students start snickering at the professor's appearance, which is rather obnoxious and uncalled for. She thinks the old man looks charming and adorable with his poofy white hair and tweed jacket.

Juvia sighs again as the clock slowly ticks towards the beginning of class and she wishes someone would sit by her. Even though the conversation would probably be awkward and dull, at least she'd have some company. But no one does and the hall is nearly full two minutes before class would begin when the door slams open with a loud bang.

A man walks in, huffing and juggling a laptop and charger in one hand and a coffee in another. A small bag swings from his elbow and the man curses when it whacks the doorway. His dark hair is disheveled and even Juvia can see the bags underneath his eyes from across the room. The man kicks his way inside and rushes across the room towards the empty seat next to her, ignoring the professor's stern look. He carelessly drops his laptop and bag onto her table, shaking her pens out of their perfect positions and he nearly dumps his coffee when he bends down to plug the charger into the outlet underneath their table. He bangs his head on the table when he stands up and mutters an apology when he bumps her second pen off the table. He tosses the pen back to her and collapses into his chair, a bit of coffee spilling over the edge of the open travel mug. Juvia offers him a tissue and he mutters, "Thanks," even though he's already licking up the spilled coffee on his hand.

Juvia stares in morbid fascination as the man yanks open his bag and pulls out two five hour energy drinks. She cocks her head in confusion before reeling back in disgust as he pours both into his coffee.

He sees and tips his head to her over his mug. "Name's Gray. I'm going to die."

She giggles as he swallows.

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	5. Racing Heart

Title: Racing heart.

Summary: He knocks her off her feet and her heart goes racing after.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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AN: While I am taking beginners Aikido lessons this quarter, I am shit at remembering the names of the techniques and remember very few (it's also my very first martial arts class in general, which I'm sure is obvious). So, since Google's being surprisingly unhelpful at the moment, I'm leaving them out (the main move I talk about in here is called kyoso doku or something along those lines - so don't quote me on it and I'll correct it when I learn what the actual name is). But really, I don't think it's too big of a problem seeing how that's not the exactly the focus in this story and it hopefully won't cause much confusion.

* * *

Erza _loves _Aikido.

Granted, she's always been quite the martial arts nut, taking classes ever since she was six. But, there's something...special about Aikido. Maybe it's how graceful the style is, the way they emphasize how to flow with the energy of the universe. Maybe it was their philosophy of "What seems weak is strong and what seems strong is weak." Or maybe it's about how it's all about neutralizing or stopping a fight without hurting anyone (such a pure and just art!). As much as she loves fighting, it would be nice knowing how to bring a conflict to a stop relatively peacefully.

Well, whatever it was, Erza is so glad she decided to take Aikido this quarter.

She runs and falls into a roll, popping up gracefully at the end of it with her hands up in a block. She grins triumphantly and runs to the back of the line, keeping an eye on her classmates as they complete their own rolls in pairs. She frowns slightly at some of the sloppier techniques but keeps her mouth shut, letting the senior students give out pointers rather than a newbie like her. Personally, she doesn't see the difficulty but, then again, not all of her peers have been taking various martial arts for over a decade.

Rob-sensei claps, and Erza gracefully falls into a kneeling position on the edge of the mat. She tosses her ponytail over her shoulder and calmly waits for the teacher to begin the next lesson.

She watches Sensei sit knee-to-knee with one of the senior students and demonstrate how to find one's center of balance in that position. She outright grins when he has the senior student grip his wrists and the older man easily pulls the large student off his knees and into a submissive hold.

"Now students," Sensei says calmly, his voice like a slow river. "This is a meditation exercise and we will practice it at the end of every class. We don't have much more time left in class so don't be upset if you don't get it today. Find a partner to practice with and ask for help if you did not understand the instructions."

Erza's smile slips as she looks to her left and right, all of her neighbors already having friends in the class and all of her previous partners quickly grabbing someone else (really, if they aren't interested in perfecting the moves, why are they even here?). Maybe she should have made a bit more effort to convince Gajeel or maybe even Mira to join the class with her.

"Do you need a partner?" a deep voice asks above her head.

Erza's head snaps up and she blinks when she meets the guy's dark eyes. She realizes that he's the same senior student who keeps helping Sensei with his demonstrations. She eyes his broad shoulders straining against his gi and his dark hakama pants that make him look like a brick wall. Her competitive spirit perks up at the idea of a challenge and she flashes him a smile. "That would be lovely."

The guy gestures for her to come further towards the middle of the mat and kneels. He smiles reassuringly and motions for her to come closer. "It won't work if you're that far away. You really do need to be knee-to-knee for this kind of thing."

Erza shifts closer and holds out her wrists. She blinks when the guy shakes his head. "What?"

The guy gestures to the top of his head. "You might want to take out your ponytail. According to my sister, it can give you a headache if you land on it too many times and it doesn't really matter if your hair's down for this exercise."

"Oh, thanks." Erza pulls the hair tie off and slips in on her wrists as she looks back at the guy. Something flickers in the back of her head and she squints at him. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

The guy shrugs. "Did you go to Rosemary Elementary School too?"

Erza beams. "You grew up Rosemary Village?" She nearly shoves her hand in the guy's face in her eagerness. "I'm Erza."

The guy chuckles, gripping her hand with his large one. His own calluses rub against hers. "I'm Simon." He gently tugs on one of her bangs. "I remember your hair."

Erza laughs and flips her hair over her shoulder. "Most people do."

Simon smiles again and holds out his wrists. "How about I demonstrate the technique first?"

He waits for her to grab his wrists before slowly pulling with his right and pushing with his left. "Now, this is to pull your opponent off their center of gravity. While you're doing this, shift your hips," he says as he pulls her a little off to the side, his torso still straight and his left knee coming up, "and you want the same knee as the hand that's pushing to swing around so that you can maneuver into a better position to hold your opponent down." He twists back into his original position. "Now I'll do it without slowing down. You ready?"

Erza barely finishes nodding before the sudden sensation of flying hits her. She feels weightless for a moment before her wrists are slammed onto the mat and Simon is leaning over her. A small giggle escapes her and she can't stop her smile from growing as her heart thumps wildly in her chest. "Wow," she breathes, her eyes flashing towards Simon's.

"Um." Simon clears his throat and releases her wrists, quickly shuffling back into his kneeling position. He coughs and scratches the back of his neck. "So, yeah, that's how you do it."

Erza sits up on her elbows and grins. "It's quite the adrenaline rush."

Simon's lips quirk to the side. "Seems like a longer fall than it really is, doesn't it?"

Erza's lips stretch back further and she quickly rolls onto her knees and inches towards Simon. "Let's do it again!"

Simon blinks and he seems a little confused. "Sure. I can show you how it's done on the other side too." He holds out his wrists and she eagerly grabs them.

In seconds, Erza is flying through the air with adrenaline pumping through her veins before hitting the mat with a solid _thwack_. Simon is leaning over her again, his strong jaw inches from her own. Erza laughs breathlessly. "This is fun!"

Simon cocks his head and stares at her as though she hit her head a bit too hard. "You call being thrown to the ground fun?"

Erza rolls her eyes but, her grin doesn't leave her face. "Oh please, it's not that far of a fall and we're on a mat. I'm talking about the flying sensation!"

Simon chuckles and pulls her upright. "It's even better when you're the one slamming them down onto the mat."

Erza scrambles towards him, hopping awkwardly on her knees so that she can properly line up with Simon. He clears her throat and she blinks down at him, startled by his pink cheeks. "Are you okay?"

Simon tugs on his ear. "Er, you might- ah, nevermind," he says quickly. "You ready?"

Erza blinks before shrugging, shoving her wrists out in front of her with a grin. "You won't know what hit you!" Simon just rolls his eyes with a half smile before his warm hands grip her wrists and she waits until he nods that he's ready. She takes a deep breath before twisting her arms and whipping around on her knees.

Only, instead of throwing him to the ground, she's met with stonewall resistance. she tries pulling him as she twists but instead of him underneath her, she ends with her shoulder pressed up against Simon's large one. She snaps her head around to see Simon smirking down at her. "Wait what?"

Simon's dark eyes seem to dance and he nudges her leg with his. "Wrong knee."

Erza blinks before she remembers that she had pushed with her left and had moved her right leg, thereby twisting the wrong way completely. She frowns. "Dang it."

Simon chuckles and she turns to look at him. "I wouldn't worry about it much," he says reassuringly, releasing his grip on her wrists. "It's tricky the first couple of times."

Erza sets her shoulders and she beams at him (though it slightly fades because he's giving her this oddly scared look). "It won't be a problem!" Erza slams her fist into her palm. "I will practice until I get this perfectly!"

Simon scratches the back of his head. "Ah, no, it's really not big of deal if you don't get this right away…"

Erza knows she hears him say something but, it all goes in one ear and out the other. She quickly settles into the correct kneeling position and holds her wrists out expectantly. Simon hesitates for some reason and just as he grabs her wrists, Sensei claps for them to line up along the edge of the mats.

Erza pouts a bit before yanking her wrists out of Simon's grip and grabbing his. He gulps when she leans towards him. "Can you stay after class to help me?"

Simon gulps. "Ah, it's late?"

Erza eyes the clock and shrugs. "It's only nine. That's not a problem for me if it's okay with you." She catches his eye and clasps her hands together. "Please?"

"Er, um…" Simon gulps again before nodding hesitantly. "Uh, sure?"

Erza claps her hands together. "Thank you!"

Simon chuckles nervously. "Don't mention it. Come on, let's line up."

Erza beams while she and the whole class pay their respects to their teachers and patiently waits while everyone fills in the attendance roster. It's not until about fifteen minutes after class is over that she can finally get on the mat with Simon. By this point, almost everyone else was gone.

Simon tugs on his ear and squints at her. "So...er, do you need me to demonstrate the technique again?"

Erza perks up. "Sure," she says as she grips his wrists, eagerly anticipating the adrenaline rush.

Simon gives her a smile that clearly says 'I think you're crazy' before abruptly twisting and slamming Erza onto the mat.

Erza laughs as her the adrenaline leaves her head and she looks up to see Simon's strong jaw right above her. She admires his slight five-o'clock shadow as she follows the line of his jaw up to his dark locks dangling past his ears before flicking her eyes to his.

He stares at her unblinkingly, his jaw clenching subtly (she wouldn't have even noticed if he wasn't so close). He licks his lips before sitting upright, dragging her up with him. "So," he says quietly, "wanna try again?"

Erza's grin is still plastered on her face and she tosses her hair over her shoulder before holding out her wrists. She stares at him expectantly until he grabs her wrists. Erza takes a moment before yanking him towards her and spinning on her knees. She nearly loses her balance until she slams his wrists down on the mat, almost falling on top of him.

Erza pushes up slightly and blinks down at Simon. "I did it!"

Simon gives her a half smile and wriggles his wrists. "Yup. Wanna try the other side now?"

Erza tugs him to his knees and waits as patiently as she can for him to get settled. Simon chuckles at her eagerness and grabs her wrists, smiling at her. Erza waits another moment before easily flipping him to the ground, though this time she loses her balance a little and ends up nose-to-nose with him.

Simon's adam's apple bobs. "Ah, you need to move your knee."

Erza looks down to see it lodged in Simon's ribs and she jumps away. "Sorry!"

Simon waves off her apologies. "Don't worry about it, it didn't hurt. Just remember to twist a bit more so that your knee ends up closer to my armpit. It's safer and you won't lose your balance so easily."

Erza nods eagerly and pats the floor in front of her. "Again!"

Simon cocks his head to the side. "You sure about that? I mean, you already have the basic gist of it down…"

Erza whips her head back and forth. "No, this beautiful art takes time and devotion, I won't give it any less than it deserves."

Simon blinks and shrugs hesitantly. "Uh, sure? If you really want to." Simon gives her a shrew look. "You up for me actually resisting this time?"

"You weren't going all out last time?" she demands, scowling at him. "Why would you insult such a beautiful art like that?!"

Simon waves his hands placatingly. "Look, I was just making sure you had the proper movements down. I tend to be like moving a brick wall, not everyone can move me on their first try." Simon scratches the back of his head. "Or first couple of tries." He contemplates for another moment before shrugging. "Sorry."

Erza flips her hair over her shoulder and scowls. "Don't do it again, I'm stronger than I look."

Simon chuckles nervously. "I don't doubt that," he says as he grabs her wrists, "I can just be harder to move-"

Erza laughs as she easily yanks Simon off balance and slams him down into the mat. She holds his wrists in place and and bumps her nose against his, the movement causing some of her long locks to spill over her shoulder. "Not difficult to move, huh?"

Simon raises his eyebrow at the challenge, his dark eyes dancing. "I wasn't properly balanced at the time." He smirks. "Doesn't count."

Erza releases him and flips her hair back. "Please, a true master is always prepared."

Simon snorts and settles himself onto his knees. "Try again. It won't be so easy."

Erza's smirk is probably a tad too predatory as she scoots towards Simon and holds out her wrists. Simon's smirk is especially smug when he grabs them.

Erza twists and pulls but, Simon doesn't budge. His teeth flash as he gently yanks her back to her starting position. "It's not about strength, you won't pull me anywhere like that. Use your hips and center."

Erza frowns in concentration before twisting again.

Simon still doesn't budge. "Too much twisting." He pulls her back. "Remember, hips, not shoulders."

Erza's frown deepens when he chuckles.

"I did warn you that I'm hard to move."

Erza pursues her lips before swiveling, finally pulling Simon off balance and slamming him down onto the mat eagerly. The only problem was she had used too much strength so she loses her balance at the end, causing her to collapse onto Simon's chest. They blink at each other before bursting into laughter.

Simon chuckles before sitting up on his elbows, causing Erza to slide back onto her heels. "Almost. If you had used your hips more instead of relying on sheer strength, you wouldn't have lost your balance."

Erza can't wipe her smile off her face even as she flips her hair over her shoulder haughtily. "I still got you off balance though." She bops him on the nose. "I win."

Simon rolls his eyes. "Whatever gets you to sleep at night. You done for the night?"

Erza cocks her eyebrow and turns to see the clock, which shows that it's only nine-forty. "We've only been at it for twenty-five minutes," she says dryly.

She sees Simon shrug out of the corner of her eye. "Newbies are usually sore after two hours of working out and you've been going even longer."

Erza turns her nose up into the air and sniffs. "I'm not like most people," she says in her loftiest voice, though the image is ruined once she winks.

Simon laughs. "Yeah, yeah, I guessed as much." Simon scratches the back of his neck, ducking his head. "Well, actually, the cleaning crew usually sweeps through here at about ten or so. Er, would you- uh…" Simon clears his throat. "You wanna go get some food? Or something?"

Erza blinks. "Right now?"

Simon blushes faintly. "If you don't-"

Erza's stomach growling cuts him off. She can feel a blush spreading across her cheeks and she tries to ignore her embarrassment. "It sounds lovely."

Simon grins with squinting eyes and a near non-existent dimple flashing, and Erza's heart stutters in her chest. She ducks her head in an attempt to hide her steadily growing blush, though she's pretty sure she failed when she sees Simon's grin grow.

He pushes himself up with a surprising grace for his size and holds him hand out to her. Erza smiles despite the blush that seems to be permanently stamped on her cheeks and takes his hand.

Simon pulls her up and waits until she's steady on her feet before he lets go. "So, food. Preferably non-campus food. Do you mind if I drive?"

Erza shrugs. "Fine by me. Where are we going?"

Simon shrugs, dusting off his hakama pants. "I know a good Indian food restaurant that's fairly cheap, I figured we could go there." He frowns slightly. "Wait, do you like Indian food?"

Erza nods and pats his shoulder reassuringly. "I love it."

Simon smiles, relief stamped on his face. "Oh good." He grabs his gym bag and starts walking backwards to the locker room, keeping his eyes on her. "So, give me a couple of minutes to go change and I'll meet you outside?"

Butterflies swirl in her stomach and her cheeks grow sore from her smile. "It's a date."

Simon trips and nearly falls, only barely managing to catch himself on a cupboard. He straightens, his cheeks rosy and his eyes wide.

Erza laughs. "Just for the record, that's the third time I've knocked you off your feet."

Simon snorts. "Second, actually. Now just wait for me to return the favor."

_You already have_.

Erza flips her hair over her shoulder and sashays out of the room. "I can't wait."

* * *

_thecookiemonster77 . tumblr . com_


	6. Glitter Catastrophes

Title: Glitter Catastrophes

Summary: Gray will never forgive any of them. (Better know as when Natsu's too eager for his "mission" and now has a lifetime ban on glitter.)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

AN: So, I finally found a better title than "You Little Shit" for this. XD Anyways, this is partially coming from a conversation with Go to bed and partially from the fact that you should never, ever ask for my help in waking you/someone up (I'm awfully sadistic, especially when I have supplies). Sort of a continuation of "Early Birds" I guess? But really, just give me mother hen!Juvia any day of the week.

* * *

Natsu wakes up to an insistent buzzing noise.

He groans and slaps his hand around on his mattress looking for his phone. The clock on the microwave shows that it's seven forty-five in the morning and Natsu whines at being woken up so early. He nearly knocks his phone off his bed when he finally manages to find it and he opens one eye blearily to the too bright screen. Someone texts him again and Natsu doesn't bother checking the number as he swipes his finger across the screen.

_Please wake Gray up._

_Gray is going to be late to the midterm._

_Juvia's getting worried!_

_Natsu!_

_Juvia doesn't have Gray's number, wake him up please!_

Natsu rolls his eyes and buries his face in his pillow. Damn popsicle. He nearly yells into his pillow when his phone buzzes again.

_NATSU!_

Natsu huffs as he types. _I'm trying to sleep!_

His head doesn't even hit the pillow before a reply comes in.

_Please Natsu, just wake up Gray! The midterm starts in fifteen minutes and he can't do a make up if he misses it. _

Natsu growls at his phone. _I don't care if the bastard fails. Find someone else._

_He's your roommate!_

_So?_

Juvia doesn't reply for a minute and Natsu sighs in relief. He rolls back over and hugs his pillow as he gets ready to fall back asleep.

His phone buzzes.

"Dammit!" he hisses, harshly jabbing his phone to read the text.

_Juvia will buy you three packs of fire jerky if you wake up Gray._

Natsu pursues his lips and sits up, his sleepiness gone. A jar of glitter left over from his and Lucy's IGE project glimmers on his desk and Natsu turns away to fully rub the sleep out of his eyes, typing his reply with one hand. _I'm listening._

_Just wake up Gray and get his ass here asap. The midterm starts in ten minutes and Juvia doesn't know how long it will take_.

Natsu yawns, scratching the back of his head. He looks around for a moment before his eyes fall on his and Lucy's project supplies (Lucy went overboard but, he doesn't see why _he_ has to store the shit if she can't buy reasonable amounts). The project shimmers and Natsu's prankster mind tingles. He smirks as he types. _It's hard to wake frost nuts up. Make it five packs of fire jerky, and we're golden._

Natsu rolls out of bed and grabs his keys. Just as he opens his door, his phone buzzes.

_Deal. _

* * *

Juvia nibbles the end of her eraser as she tries not to look too jumpy. The minute hand on the clock ticks in the corner of her eye and she tries to sooth the worry in her gut.

Gray's thirty-six minutes late. Luckily, the midterm is a lot easier than she expected so being late shouldn't be too big of deal for Gray but still, _he's thirty-six minutes late_.

Juvia wishes there was an easy way to check her phone without the professor accusing her of cheating. Natsu claimed he would wake Gray up but that was over forty minutes ago. She had felt her phone buzz a few times in the beginning of class but she hadn't been able to check.

She sighs as she looks at the coffee cup on the edge of her desk. It was probably only lukewarm at best right now but Juvia had thought Gray would appreciate the peace offering. She knows how he hates mornings.

Another five minutes tick by and Juvia tries to concentrate on the midterm rather than her concern. The midterm was thirty percent of their final grade, Gray really, _really_ can't afford to miss this. She would hate to see his grade drop over something so stupid.

Two minutes later, the classroom door bangs open, making Juvia and the other students jump. Juvia blinks when something sparkly enters the room and she has to rub her eyes to make sure stress hadn't driven her insane. She sees them glaring darkly at her and Juvia chokes when she realizes that the walking art project gone wrong, covered head to toe in glitter and mismatched clothes, is _Gray_. Her mouth falls open as Gray stomps his way across the room and grabs a midterm out of the stunned professor's hands. He stomps his way over to Juvia and she tries to swallow down her giggle as glitter rains off him like pixie dust. He flops down in his chair and a high pitched giggle escapes her when a cloud of glitter fluffs up around him.

Gray turns and glares at her. The smudged sharpie mustache drawn on his face quivers. "I hate you."

Juvia pushes the coffee to him and tries not to laugh at his disgruntled look (she's never going to be able to take him seriously after this). Gray looks slightly mollified by the time he's raised his coffee cup and Juvia turns back to the last two questions on the midterm, trying to ignore the shimmering catastrophe sitting next to her.

Gray suddenly spits his coffee out. Juvia yelps and whips her midterm and scantron away from the danger zone. She sets them away from the puddle on their desk and turns to see Gray furiously scraping his tongue with his teeth and making half spitting noises.

Juvia bites her lip. "Are you okay?"

Gray glares at her again. "No! That ass got glitter in my mouth!" He grimaces and scrapes his tongue again. "Do you have any idea how gross glitter tastes?"

"Young man!"

Juvia and Gray jump at the stern voice coming from in front of them. They look up at the professor, who's standing over them with a furious scowl and his arms crossed over his chest. Juvia shrinks but, Gray just huffs and crosses his arms over his chest as well.

The professor narrows his eyes at Gray. "You've caused more than enough disturbance already. If you continue to be a distraction, I will kick you out and you won't be allowed to finish the midterm. Now, stop being a nuisance, especially to this nice young lady here." The professor glares at Gray once more before turning on his heel and walking back to his desk. He pauses a few feet away, looking over his shoulder. "Oh, and don't bother whining about how bad something tastes, you dump energy drinks into coffee. You have no room to complain."

Juvia presses her lips together to hide her smile and she gives Gray a sympathetic look before finishing her midterm. She pats his shoulder as she goes to turn in her midterm, trying not to laugh at Gray's huff. She grabs her stuff and bolts out of the classroom, barely able to hold in her laughter.

Juvia hurries out of a walkway to a secluded corner, turning her back to the fantastic view of the campus the overhead walkway provides. She whips out her phone so she can ask Natsu what the hell happened. A couple of texts distract her though and she quickly scans through the messages, a little surprised to see Cana and Gajeel texting her so early in the morning. She leans back against the railing and opens Cana's first.

_Omg can you believe Natsu did that! What a shit I love it_

Juvia smiles down at her phone, pausing briefly before moving on to the next text. She opens Gajeel's text next and her confusion grows.

_cana showed me. i owe u. cant believe natsu did smth smart for once_

Juvia blinks. _What?_ She scrolls through a few more texts until she hits hers and Natsu's thread from earlier and she quickly opens that.

_He's awake. You owe me fire jerky. Sending video in a few._

Juvia cocks her head to the side and opens the video in the next text, squinting at the small screen. Someone's leaning over a sleeping form doing goodness knows what. They look up and Juvia can barely recognize Levy's grinning face in the dim light. Levy moves out of the camera view and Juvia giggles when she realizes that Levy had drawn the mustache on Gray. The camera shakes and Juvia jumps when Natsu's face abruptly fills the screen.

"_Natsu_," Levy hisses, her voice garbled in the microphone. "_You're too close_."

"_Sorry_." Natsu backs up and carefully positions himself behind Gray. Juvia tries to see what he's holding but it's too dark. "_You ready Levy?_"

"_Ready when you are_."

Natsu grins at the camera. "_Remember Juvia, you owe me five fire jerky packs for this_." Natsu holds up his fingers and mouths a countdown to the camera. "_Three...two...one…"_

"_**Wake up bitch**__!"_

Garbled music blasts through Juvia's phone speakers and Natsu dumps an enormous jar of glitter on Gray. He must have mixed in a little bit of water because it sloshes on to Gray rather than spreading onto Natsu and Levy. Juvia nearly chokes from laughter as Gray sputters and tries to get out of bed as Natsu and Levy shriek and jump back. Gray manages to kick free of his blankets and jumps out of his bed (probably to choke Natsu) and Levy fumbles with the phone. Levy catches the phone and focuses back on Gray and Natsu and oh…

Turns out, Gray sleeps naked.

Juvia nearly drops her phone as she doubles over laughing. She can still hear Levy and Natsu yelling at Gray that he needs to put on clothes through her phone and it sends Juvia into further hysterics. Juvia gasps as she raises her phone and pauses the video, grabbing the railing behind her before her knees collapse out from underneath her.

Looks like she owes Natsu more than she thought.


	7. Slight Misunderstanding

Title: Slight Misunderstanding

Summary: Simon thinks that _maybe_ they should have planned this out a bit better.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Simon is ten seconds away from smacking Gajeel upside the head.

Gajeel snickers _again_ (why isn't he sick of it after doing it for _thirty fucking minutes straight_?) and slaps Simon on the shoulder. "Man, I can't believe Erza talked you into wearing that."

Simon growls and takes another gulp of his spiked punch. He frowns at his drained cup and turns around to refill it from the punch bowl he's guarding. "Shut. Up."

Gajeel laughs and looks around the room, the Halloween party in full swing. "Seriously, I think you're the only one in a sexy costume here. And you're a _bunny_," Gajeel teases, gesturing to Simon's playboy bunny outfit.

Simon rolls his eyes and tries not to be too self-conscious about his bare chest. "Erza wanted to coordinate costumes and I'm not one to say no to sexy bunnies." Simon adjusts his bunny ears again, trying to resist the temptation to punch Gajeel in the arm. Despite the idea of seeing Erza in a bunny costume (oh _god_, it would be great), Simon doesn't think he's cut out to do this kind of stuff.

Gajeel laughs and reaches for a cup of punch. "I can't imagine what outfit Erza promised to wear to get you into that. It must be something."

Simon slaps away Gajeel's hand away and dismisses Gajeel's glare. "Nope, the punch is for me, I need it to get through the night." Gajeel manages to snitch one anyways and Simon shoots him a disapproving look before gulping down some more punch. He turns back to the party and looks for Erza's bright red hair. "Besides, I don't actually know what she's wearing."

Gajeel shoots him a disbelieving look. "What? And you just agreed to this?" Gajeel snorts. "You're not worried about what Erza will show up in?"

Simon shrugs with a grin. "Dude, it's _Erza_. She'll look great in any...thing…" Gajeel laughs as Simon trails off but, Simon's too preoccupied with the vision he sees over Gajeel's shoulder.

Because there's Erza, wearing a bright blue, bunny onesie.

Gajeel follows his gaze and cackles. Erza must have heard because she looks over and sees Simon, her mouthing falling open. They stare at each other for a few more minutes before both crack and double over laughing as well.

Gajeel slaps Simon's shoulder as he walks away, chortling, and Simon tries to catch his breath as Erza jogs over. He sets down his punch for fear of dropping it and he can feel his blush heating up the room. A cool draft brushes his stomach and he groans under his breath at the reminder. Erza's grin grows and he covers his face with one hand in hopes of containing his steadily growing blush.

Erza bumps into him and pulls his hand away, her eyes sparkling and cheeks flushed. "Oh god, Simon, I didn't think you were going to wear _that_."

Simon takes a deep, calming breath. It comes out as a breathy, slightly hysterical laugh and he scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, guess you know what type of idiot you're dating now."

Erza giggles and wraps her huge paw hands behind his head as she stands on her toes. "Oh Simon, no!" She pulls him closer, smiling widely. "I _love_ it."

Simon's nervous laugh is swallowed up by her kiss and he feels a little better by the time she pulls away. He sighs again and drops his forehead against hers. "How 'bout next time we skip the surprise part and actually check that our outfits match, eh?"

Erza laughs and slides her paws down to his chest. It tickles and he jerks away, making Erza chuckle before stepping closer. "I'm sorry, I just didn't think you'd go with the playboy version. Although," she drawls, biting her bottom lip with a sly grin. "I wouldn't mind seeing you dressed up in something like this again."

Simon snorts. "What, you want me to dress up as a sexy bunny every Halloween?"

"No, I was wondering how you felt about pirates." Erza smirks. "You could totally pull of the tight pants and half opened shirt look."

Simon chokes. "Hah, no, I don't think I could do this again."

Erza pouts. "Aww, I like seeing you half naked."

She giggles when he groans. "You're going to tease me all night, aren't you?"

Erza shrugs, her eyes sparkling. "Well, you know how you can shut me up."

Simon blanches. "You honestly think my wallet can handle buying you all that cake?" He shudders. "Or that I'm going out to your favorite cake shop dressed like this? The serving girl always teases me, this will just make it worse!"

Erza blinks before laughing. Simon opens his mouth to protest but snaps it shut when she reaches up to pull his head down. "You _dork_," she says, still laughing. "I was thinking about something much better," she drawls, right before kissing him.

_Oh_, Simon thinks as his eyes slide shut. He wraps an arm around her and pulls her closer, his other hand cupping her cheek.

Yes, this is _much_ better.

* * *

_thecookiemonster77 . tumblr . com_


	8. Musical Chairs

Title: Musical Chairs

Summary: Freed's convinced the universe is conspiring against him, Laxus is oblivious, and Bickslow finds the whole situation entirely too amusing.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Freed is going to kill someone.

Bickslow, the _ass_, is laughing next to him. Indignation is welling up fast within Freed because really, his best friend can at least pretend to feel sympathetic to his plight. In fact, the only reason why Freed isn't about to stab Bickslow with his pencil is because Bickslow is diligently taking the notes that Freed needs to copy from later. All because some lummox with _the biggest fucking shoulders_ he has ever seen is sitting in front of him. He can barely see the corners of the board, much less the actual notes!

(Okay, so maybe he's overreacting slightly.)

But he can't help it! It's already the fifth damn lecture for this class and the lummox has managed to sit in front of him every. damn. time.

Surely there are other seats the guy can sit in? Freed's already picking different seats every lecture period, trying to find a seat where he can still see the board and ditch the notes blocker. He doesn't even think the guy's aware he keeps blocking Freed's view which is just unfair.

Clearly, the universe is conspiring against him.

A small crinkle came from his left and Freed sees Bickslow toss him a piece of paper. His brow wrinkles (passing notes in class is such horrible student conduct) but, it's not like he can do anything else with the human wall in front of him. Freed opens the note with a sigh.

_chill youre copying my notes later. youre getting your new glasses next week and then you can just sit up front like normal._

Freed takes a deep breath. He already knows all that but it's still incredibly annoying. He doesn't _want_ to wait, this class is important!

Something hits his face and Freed jumps. He looks down to see a crumpled ball next to him and Bickslow is grinning out of the corner of his eye. Freed swallows his trepidation and grabs the note. He frowns as he opens the note.

_the dude's hot and you have a __thing_ _for shoulders-just enjoy the view!_

Freed crumples the note with a growl. "Shut up and pay attention!" he hisses, throwing in a glare for good measure. Bickslow's low chuckle and wink just piss him off even more.

Freed fumes for the rest of class, alternating between staring angrily at the delicious looking shoulders in front of him and debating just what he did to make the universe hate him.

(It must have been when he spilled that punch on Evergreen's new dress. He said sorry but she's still mad and terrifying, no matter how much Bickslow laughs about it.)

Freed doesn't hear the professor dismiss class (not that he can ever hear the man this far back) and Freed grumbles at the desks scraping back and the notebooks slapping shut. Bickslow tosses his notebook to Freed with a grin. "Thanks man."

Freed grumbles as he shoves it into his bag. "I am not your pack mule."

Bickslow shrugs. "We both know if I take it back I'll never remember to give it to you."

Freed sighs as the two follow to flow of students out the door, cracking his shoulders as they entered the hallway. "So, where to next?"

Bickslow pursues his lips. "We could go bug Ever at her job." A flash of yellow comes from over Bickslow's shoulder and Freed cranes his head to look over Bickslow's shoulders. "Plus, she always gives us free snacks, despite her grumbles, and-"

Freed blinks and automatically tunes out Bickslow when he sees the lummox flipping through some notes alone in the hallway. (He also has the finest combination of genes Freed's seen in a while which just pisses him off more.) The guy nods and snaps his binder shut and continues down the hall, which is now free of students. Freed vaguely registers Bickslow asking him something but, Freed waves him off with a hasty apology and he scurries over to the lummox. "Hey!"

The guy abruptly stops and turns on his heel. Freed yelps as he slides to a stop, nearly crashing into the guy. Instead, he comes nose-to-nose with a _humongous_ chest. (What a _wonderfully_ tight shirt.) Freed takes a step back before looking up into cold blue eyes.

"What?"

Freed takes another step back at the guy's grumble. His prepared lecture about proper classroom etiquette flies out of his head as the guy crosses his arms, his deep purple shirt stretching across his chest. Freed shakes his head and licks his lips. "You keep blocking my view."

The guy frowns. "Huh?"

Freed drags a hand through his hair, hissing in frustration. "Every damn lecture you sit in front of me and block my view." Freed pokes the guy's arm, his mouth going dry when the guy's biceps flexed. _Oh hell, those are some great arms_. Freed shakes his head and growls. "Huge ass people with enormous shoulders like you should sit in the _back_ of the classroom, everyone knows that."

The guy sticks out his lower lip and shrugs. His jacket slides off his shoulders (not that he seems to notice) and Freed gulps as the guy's shoulders roll.

_I bet he gives the best hugs._

"Then sit somewhere else, I like my seat."

All thoughts of grabbing those fantastic shoulders fly out of his mind and Freed glares at the guy. "I do! But you sit in front of me every." Freed pokes the guy's bicep. "Damn." Another poke. "Time." Poke.

The guy's eyes narrow before his lips curl into a smug smirk. He looms over Freed and Freed walks back into a wall with a yelp. The guy chuckles as he leans over Freed and rests his arm against the wall (and holy hell, the guy's biceps look even better up close).

(Why oh why does the idiot lummox have to be _hot_?)

The biceps flex.

(Seriously, _not fair_.)

The blond's lips curl and he leans closer. Freed gulps.

(Oh god, oh god, oh god oh god_ohgod_-)

Teeth flash. "I don't see why you're complaining," he murmurs. His breath smells like cinnamon. "At least your view is great."

Freed blinks as the guy leans back with a smug grin. Freed gapes as the other man chuckles, his jaw refusing to listen to his brain. The blond begins to walk away and Freed snaps to his senses and smacks the man's bicep.

(Why must those muscles feel so wonderful?)

Freed's scowl deepens at the thought and he crosses his arms with a huff. The blond man only seems to be amused at his dark glare. "What. The. Hell."

The blond laughs. "Sorry," he says, not even a hint of remorse in his tone. "You're funny when you're flustered." He waves off Freed's sputters and holds out his hand. "Name's Laxus, not that you asked."

Freed stares at him incredulously, too stupefied to reply.

Laxus shrugs and drops his hand. He stoops down to grab his jacket before walking away. He pauses and looks over his shoulder. "Oh, some advice: if you don't want me to sit in front of you, don't sit behind the one left-handed desk in the entire classroom."

Freed gapes as Laxus turns back around and resumes walking. Just before Laxus turns the corner, he holds up his hand in a wave. "See you Friday."

* * *

AN: I've recently noticed that I haven't really written/posted any NaLu stuff for this fic yet, which is weird because this story had originally been centered around them back when it had a plot. Now it's a ton of side pairings, haha (whoops). I promise nothing but, I'll try to make it something around NaLu or at least Gajevy for the next chapter.

A note to my sweet guest reviewer: You are an absolute darling and I get the biggest grin every time I read one of your reviews. Thank you so much! I wish I could promise better update times for you because you're so sweet and excited every time I update but, I don't want to make a promise I know I can't keep. Feel free to come on tumblr and ask about progress on any of my stories (and maybe kick my butt into gear, haha) or request stuff. ^^

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	9. Knight in Shining Armor

Title: Knight in Shining Armor

Summary: Women are tricky and Gajeel is rightfully terrified of all of them.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

AN: Penny wars are a type of fundraiser where multiple groups are in competition with each other and people donate to get points. Points are the same as monetary value (pennies=1 point, nickels=five points, etc.) but only pennies are positive points so people either help their group or sabotage others with their donations. The group with the most points at the end of the fundraiser wins and gets bragging rights.

* * *

"Hey Levy?"

Levy looks up from where she's rooting around in her backpack to blink up at Gajeel. She cocks her head to the side. "I thought you were going to go do your math homework."

Gajeel smirks at her. "That eager to be rid of me already?" he asks, his smirk growing as Levy waves her hands, flustered. Gajeel laughs before waving away her half formed apology. "I'm just teasing. No, I was just gonna ask if you didn't mind me coming up with you. I need to get some math notes from Mira."

"Oh." Levy's lips quirk and she nods before going back to digging around in her backpack. "Sure, once I find my keys."

Gajeel raises his eyebrow and reaches over to tug on the chain around her neck. "You mean these?"

Levy looks down, her eyes wide. Her cheeks darken slightly before she bats his hand away and whirls on her heel. "Shut up," she mutters as she unlocks the door to her dorms.

Gajeel laughs and follows her inside. Levy darts up the stairs and then it's Gajeel's turn to grumble as he has to take three steps at a time to keep up. Levy must have caught some of his curses by the time they reach the third floor because she grins at him before darting down the hall. Gajeel starts heading to Mira's dorm room, pausing briefly as Levy unlocks her door.

Gajeel eyes the small whiteboard hanging by her door with a grin. "I see you still have my artwork up," he says, eyeing the Lion King drawing he had done two weeks ago.

Levy shrugs. "I love the movie and the drawing's good. Mira's irritated with it though."

Gajeel frowns. "Really? Weird. She usually steals my old notes for the doodles in them."

Levy laughs. "No, she loves the drawing. She's just mad because there isn't any room to write notes on it right now." Levy nods to the door across the hallway.

"Notes for what?" Gajeel asks as he briefly looks over his shoulder. He starts to turn back around before he whips his head back around, horror churning in his gut. The whiteboard across the hall has several quotes in neat handwriting plastered on it but, Gajeel can only stare at the crammed note in red on the bottom. Or, more specifically, the two underlined words that were making his head swirl.

_Penny wars_.

"Oh _fuck_."

"Gajeel?"

Gajeel doesn't register Levy's question as he slumps against her doorway. He can feel the blood draining from his face because it _can't_ be that time of the year again.

Levy huffs and shoves his shoulder. "Gajeel, what's the problem?"

Gajeel whirls around and grabs her shoulders. Levy squeaks and Gajeel subconsciously loosens his grip as he leans forward. "Please, _please_ tell me that's an old note."

Levy's freckles fade slightly as her cheeks darken and she tries leaning away slightly from Gajeel. "What, the penny wars?"

Gajeel nods frantically. "They're over right?"

"Er, no. They started Monday."

Gajeel straightens, not even noticing Levy knocking his hands from her shoulders. He drags his hands through his hair, trying to choke down the panic climbing up his throat. "_Shit_. I don't really need those notes, right?" he mutters.

Levy tugs on his bicep. "For fucks sake, what's the problem?"

Gajeel turns and stares at her in shock. "Hasn't Mira turned into _the demon_ already?"

Levy opens her mouth to reply but, a sweet, sugary, voice to his right cuts her off.

"Oh, Gajeel~"

_Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck fuck._

A coin jar abruptly appears under his nose and Gajeel steps back to avoid the thick glass rim whacking him. His back hits a door and he can barely hold in a whimper as Mira lowers her coin jar so that she can step closer. Gajeel nearly escapes but Mira slams a hand on the wall and turns just enough so that he's well and truly trapped.

"Ga-_jeel_."

Gajeel shrinks.

Mira smiles sweetly, simply adding to the frantic energy rolling off her in waves. "You're donating to my jar, right?"

Gajeel gulps and tries pushing her away. "No, _leave me alone_. You _promised_ you wouldn't do this to me!"

Mira rolls her eyes and moves even closer. "No I didn't. But, as my _dear_ and _beloved_ best friend, you will help me win." Her eyes harden. "_Right_?"

Gajeel tries to duck under her arm but Mira catches his chest and pushes him back. Gajeel tries looking over her shoulder in hopes of Levy helping him but, the bluenette is leaning against her doorway, bent over in silent hysterics.

Traitor.

"_Gajeel_."

Gajeel pushes against Mira's hand slightly. It doesn't move. "Get off me woman! Lily's my best friend, not you."

Mira brightens and Gajeel can't help the shiver that runs down his spine. That is _not_ what should have happened. "Oh good, then you'll get him to help out too, right?"

Gajeel looks up at the ratty ceiling and silently begs for divine intervention. "Look, I just wanted those math notes you promised me."

Mira's grip relaxes slightly and Gajeel's head snaps down as a small flicker of hope burns in his chest. Mira smiles with crinkled eyes and a peaceful aura, and Gajeel thanks whatever higher being is up in the cosmos that she's calmed down.

Mira laughs. "Of course I'll give you those notes, silly." She opens her eyes and Gajeel's hope abruptly dies in his chest from the gleam them. "Just give me five bucks worth of pennies."

"Goddammit woman!"

Mira squints. "I can negotiate. How about you just give me whatever change you have in your pockets?"

Gajeel growls and tries to shove her hand away again. "No! I only have a twenty!"

Gajeel freezes as Mira perks up, his gut like lead. "_Perfect_." Mira finally releases him and holds her hand out. "We have a deal."

"_I'm not giving you twenty dollars!_"

"Really, Mira? Resorting to harassing strangers already?"

Gajeel glares over Mira's head at Erza, who's smirking a little ways down the hall. Simon was standing behind her and he gave him a sympathetic smile, which Gajeel ignored in favor of glaring at Erza. "Oi Scarlet, I had three classes with you last quarter."

Erza tosses her hair over her shoulder. "It still doesn't change the situation."

Mira snorts and turns to face Erza (and still manages to keep him trapped somehow). "Oh please, you made Simon donate all those pennies the first day, you hypocrite."

"I did not!" Erza sticks her nose up in the air. "Unlike you, I don't need to bribe my friends or boyfriend to win."

Simon snorts. "Correction, she tried to get me to donate and I told her that she wasn't getting a single coin out of me if she was always punching me in the face."

Mira laughs and leans against Gajeel, pushing him further against the doorway and cutting off any possible escape route. Erza whirls on her heel, her scarlet hair fanning out behind her like a cape. "That was one time! And it was an _accident_! I said sorry!"

Simon grins and flicks her nose. "You still did it. And so long as my nose still throbs, you owe me."

Erza scowls. "Stop milking it. That was a glancing blow at best."

"It wounded me on a spiritual level," Simon says, his grin growing. "Don't worry, I'll drop it when the penny war's over. Besides, I'm broke."

"You're useless."

Simon pouts mockingly. "Oi, that's hurtful. See if I let you win our next Aikido spar."

Erza sputters indignantly. "What are you talking about? Aikido doesn't even _have _spars until the end of the quarter. And you don't let me win, I kick your ass!"

Mira laughs again. "Poor Erza, not even her boyfriend supports her."

"Oi!"

Gajeel ignores Erza's and Simon's protests, pushing Mira's shoulder to get her attention. "Hey Mira, remember when you hit me that one time? It hurt me on a spiritual level."

Mira snorts. "You're a tough guy, get over it. You don't get to leave until I get my money."

"_Your _money_?_"

"Okay, okay," Levy chokes, waving her hands slightly. The older students quiet down and Levy rolls her shoulders. "Mira, I should have several pennies laying around, I'll stick them in your jar and I can spare a dollar for Erza's jar."

Mira's head snaps around and even Gajeel can see the grin stretching along her face. "Yes!"

"But, you have to let Gajeel go and give him those notes he wanted."

Mira shrugs and steps away from Gajeel. Gajeel wastes no time lunging out from behind her to go hide behind Levy. (Shut up, he is not being a coward, he's just smart. Besides, Levy makes a good shield.)

Erza huffs. "I thought you were my friend Levy. How could you help _Mira_?"

Levy sticks her tongue out. "Floor pride. And as funny as this is, I think we should give Gajeel a moment to compose himself so he stops looking like a kicked puppy."

"Hey!"

Mira laughs and skips down the hallway, jauntily waving at Erza. Erza looks like she's about to start bickering again but Simon loops his arm around her shoulder and drags her away. Silence falls over the hallway and Gajeel can finally relax.

Levy giggles and rubs his shoulder sympathetically. "I'm guessing they were like this when you all were in the dorms together last year."

Memories of Erza storming down halls to bang on doors and Mira flirting/conning (that woman's flirting should be considered a weapon, it's fucking deadly) flashes through his head and Gajeel can't repress his shudder. "I'd be surprised if it didn't happen again this year, those two are ruthless when competing."

Levy's giggles turn into laughter. "I think I just got a firsthand view of it."

Gajeel looks at her with wide eyes. "That wasn't even half as bad as last year." Gajeel rolls his shoulders to shake off the chills. "_Never again_."

Levy snorts lightly. "You were pathetic out there. Just so you know."

Gajeel scowls at her. "It was scary!" Gajeel scratched the back of his head. "Er, thanks."

Levy raises her eyebrow. "Thanks for what?"

Gajeel gestures with his hand. "For saving me from the she-demon."

Levy laughs and pats his arm. "No problem. I don't mind being your knight in shining armor."

"Gajeel…"

Gajeel freezes and looks over his shoulder to see Mira standing behind him, her eyes huge and watery.

Mira sniffs. "You think I'm a demon?"

Gajeel nearly chokes on his tongue. "No, uh, er, sorry. I didn't mean it! Well, not like that-no, um, please don't cry?"

Mira looks up at him. "That hurts Gajeel. How could you? I even printed off copies of my notes for you!"

"Uh…"

Mira steps closer, her eyes gleaming. "Really, that hurts on a spiritual level. You're so cruel. Now you owe me twenty bucks to make up for it."

"_Goddammit woman!_"

* * *

AN: Idk, my humor's weird. Shoutout to Silv for letting me bug her with this and dragging me further into the GajeelxMira brotp.

_thecookiemonster77 . tumblr . com_


	10. Starlit Eyes

Title: Starlit Eyes

Summary: There's nothing prettier than the way her eyes sparkle with starlight and the way her cheeks flush from laughter.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**.

* * *

"Hey Juvia, you free right now?"

Juvia looks up to see Cana leaning over her headboard. She makes sure to mark her page in her history book before sitting up and facing Cana. "It depends. Why?"

Cana grins and holds up Juvia's workout shoes. "You up for a hike?"

Juvia looks at her clock and raises her eyebrow. "It's nearly midnight Cana."

Cana cocks her head to the side. "So? It's a gorgeous night out right now and your class doesn't start until after ten tomorrow."

Juvia frowns at Cana. "Juvia thought you had an eight am."

Cana shrugs. "Yup. Don't care though."

"Cana," Juvia scolds, crossing her arms over her chest. "You know you're going to regret this tomorrow. And then you'll whine at Juvia all day. And be _clingy_."

Cana runs a hand through her hair and laughs. "I can't help it, I like cuddling when I'm tired."

Juvia huffs. She looks down at the heavy textbook in her lap and grimaces. "Juvia can't have that right now. The history final's gonna be hard and Juvia has to write a paper that's due in two days and-"

Cana holds up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll bug Gajeel for cuddle time instead." Cana shakes Juvia's sneakers and gently tugs Juvia's textbook out of her hands. "But please? There's something I want to show you. And you need a break Blue, you're going to go crazy if you don't."

Juvia narrows her eyes at Cana but, she can't protest. She has been thinking of taking a break the last couple of minutes anyways. "Oh alright, Juvia's coming." She pulls her shoes away from Cana and starts tugging them on. "What's this all important, can't-wait-until-the-morning thing you want to show Juvia."

Cana laughs and gently tugs a strand of Juvia's hair. "That's a secret Blue. It'll be worth it though, I promise."

Juvia rolls her eyes and follows Cana out, barely remembering to grab a jacket on the way out.

Cana sees and raises her eyebrow. "You don't need that, it's nice out."

Juvia snorts softly as she tugs the sweater on. She fluffs her hair and moves up to link her arm with Cana's. "Juvia likes to be prepared. Where are you taking her?"

Cana's lips pull up to the side. "I told you, that's a secret." She squeezes Juvia's arm. "You're not getting this secret out of me, no sir-ree."

Juvia rolls her eyes again even as she laughs. She pushes the open the door, smiling as the warm night air brushes her cheeks. "You're so dramatic."

Cana pulls Juvia closer and nudges her shoulder gently. "Just trust me," she murmurs, her gentle chuckles swallowed by the night.

The two fall into an amicable silence and Juvia takes the time to admire the silhouettes of the slowly blooming trees and glittering buildings in the distance. The yellow streetlamps are too dim to block out the stars completely and Juvia takes a moment to squint through the ugly light at them. She looks back at Cana before flicking her eyes around again. "The school looks so different at night."

Cana hums in agreement. "Less students and none of those obnoxious tour brat packs."

Juvia swats Cana's arm lightly. "Cana! The high school tours aren't that bad. You liked them last year."

"Last year was when we were in the dorms Juvia. Tours meant better cafeteria food." Cana grimaces. "Now it means dumb coffee orders and kids who don't know to be grateful they're getting caffeine."

Juvia giggles and rubs Cana's arm. "Tough day at Starbucks?"

Cana huffs as they weave through some small alleys between buildings. "High school students are the worst. College kids actually know what they want and don't care if their coffee or tea or whatever is exactly as they order it so long as they get their energy juice. High school kids though..." Cana's nose wrinkles and she scowls at Starbucks as they pass by it. "One of the brats tried to order a vanilla. Not a drink, just something vanilla. Like I'm supposed to know what _that_ means!"

Juvia laughs and rubs Cana's arm soothingly. "At least you always have entertaining stories to tell Juvia."

Cana puffs her cheeks out. "Yeah, yeah, silver linings and all that."

"Exactly." Juvia frowns when Cana drags her behind a couple of buildings and up a narrow staircase to an empty parking lot. "Cana, are you taking Juvia to the letters?"

Cana shakes her head and grins over her shoulder. "Nope."

Juvia raises her eyebrow as Cana grabs her hand to pull her through the parking lot. "Really? Because Juvia remembers Gajeel dragging her up this to paint the letters."

Cana stops under the streetlamp at the base of the hill and readjusts her grip on Juvia's hand. The dull yellow light creates the oddest shadows across Cana's face but, her eyes gleam out from them. "I'm taking you to something better. The letters are just on the way. Come on!"

Juvia can't help the smile that stretches along her face or the small laugh that bubbles out of her. She holds back her small groan as they hit the steep portion of the trail and releases Cana's hand for balance. She follows Cana up, laughing when Cana hits a loose pile of dirt and curses as she tries not to fall. Juvia puts her hand on the small of Cana's back before Cana can lose her balance. She grins at Cana's thanks.

The two girls manage to get up the hill in one piece despite the occasional stumble and they pause at the letters to admire the view as they catch their breath. Juvia turns to Cana, subconsciously registering the way Cana's flushed cheeks made her eyes look even brighter. "So, what were you going to show Juvia?"

Cana grins, her teeth flashing, and she grabs Juvia's hand to pull her up a smaller, steeper trail. About two minutes later, they arrive at the hilltop. An old rusty teeter-totter creaks ahead of them.

Cana laughs and releases Juvia's hand so that she can run to the toy. She plops down on one side and gestures to the other. "You like?"

Juvia laughs. "Juvia can't believe Cana dragged her all the way up here today play on a kid's toy."

Cana rolls her eyes as Juvia sits down. She kicks off and soon the two are giggling as they rock up and down. "Oh, you know me. Trying to regain childhood innocence and all that."

Juvia gives Cana a flat look. "You're beyond all hope of that ever happening."

Cana winks. "It's the thought that counts."

Juvia laughs and the two continue to rock on the teeter-totter. They descend into silence and the warm night air swirls around them. Juvia can't stop smiling as she goes up and down, her stress seeming to melt away.

It's surprising how different being on a teeter-totter on a hill is from just one in the park. The two of them are above everything else and the noise from the city is just a distant murmur. The night sky is clear and it almost feels like they're floating.

A breeze nips at the duo and Juvia's glad she thought to bring a jacket as Cana shivers. She looks over at Juvia (who's positive she has a smug look stamped on her face) and sticks her tongue out at her. "Shut up, I'm not cold."

Juvia grins and they fall into silence again. She tilts her head upward and laughs, the breeze on her cheeks refreshing. Cana clears her throat and Juvia looks back at her.

The teeter-totter tilts and Juvia cocks her head to the side as she's lowered. Cana's grinning and the starry sky behind her glitters. Her eyes catch the starlight and shine, and Juvia can't think of anything prettier.

She swings her leg over her seat and gets off when she hits the ground. Cana's side drops abruptly and Juvia laughs at Cana's pout.

"Done already?" Cana asks, a whine coloring her tone.

Juvia shakes her head as she walks towards Cana's side. She slides onto the front of Cana's seat, carefully adjusting her legs so she doesn't accidentally push Cana off the back. Cana raises her eyebrow and puts a steadying hand on Juvia's thigh. She twirls her fingers through Juvia's bangs and grins. "What's up?"

Juvia shifts so that she's tucked against Cana and she wraps her arms around Cana's waist. She buries her nose in Cana's neck and takes a deep breath, letting Cana's spicy incense smell wash away the last of her nerves. "Thanks Cana. Juvia needed this."

Cana kisses Juvia's forehead. "Anytime Blue. You know how I love to monopolize your time."

Juvia laughs into Cana's neck, her grin growing when Cana joins in. She tilts her head up, her ear pressing against Cana's shoulder, and grins at the view.

(Cana has such a lovely jawline.)

Her lips twist into a smirk. "Juvia loves the view."

Cana's teeth flash as she grins and looks up at the stars. "Yeah, less light pollution up here."

Juvia snorts and places her hand on Cana's cheek. Cana looks down at her and Juvia smiles wryly. "Juvia wasn't talking about the stars silly. You're much prettier."

Cana snorts and tilts her head down. "Careful Blue, you're getting mushy on me."

Juvia giggles, her nose bumping against Cana's. "Shut up," she mutters before sitting up and pressing her lips against Cana's.

Cana hums happily (Juvia can feel her smile against her lips) and Juvia nips Cana's lip. Cana's laugh is breathy as she pulls away and Juvia follows her, wrapping her arm around Cana's waist to hold her close as she finds her lips again.

Cana presses closer, one arm slipping around Juvia's waist and the other tangling in Juvia's hair. She pulls away too soon, prompting a whine from Juvia, and rubs her nose against Juvia's. "It's nice up here, ain't it Blue?"

Juvia snorts. "It'd be nicer if you were still kissing Juvia."

Cana's shoulders shake as she laughs silently. "I bet it would be Blue but, I'm about to fall off this thing and I'd rather not drag you with me."

Juvia starts and looks down, finally noticing how far down the seat she had slid. She jumps up, sliding her hands to hold onto Cana's arms so that her girlfriend doesn't fall.

Cana stumbles to her feet, nearly tugging Juvia off balance as she stands. She links her fingers with Juvia's and tugs her close, a smirk playing on her lips. Juvia grins back and raises herself on her tiptoes, her lips lightly brushing against Cana's. She pulls away, biting her lip, and gives Cana a sheepish lip. "Don't you have class in a few hours?"

Cana pouts and ducks her head down. "So?" she grumbles.

Juvia laughs and reaches up to tug lightly on a lock of Cana's hair. "Come on silly, Juvia can't have her girlfriend miss class tomorrow."

Cana snorts and rolls her eyes. "It's not that big of a deal. Kissing's better."

Juvia merely raises her eyebrow and stares pointedly at her.

Cana sighs. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. Fine, let's get off this hill and get back. I'm getting cold anyways."

Juvia can feel the triumphant grin stretching along her lips and Cana snorts when she sees it. "Oh shush, you know you were right. Don't rub it in."

Juvia's smile grows and she tugs Cana towards the path. "Juvia will give you a kiss at the bottom if you're really that upset."

"Or you could wait until we get back to our suite."

Juvia frowns at Cana, blinking as she tries to puzzle out why Cana would put a hold on kissing. Cana sees and smirks, wriggling her eyebrows, and Juvia snorts as it clicks.

"No. Juvia needs to study and you need sleep. Try back later in the week."

Cana heaves a sigh, her whole torso slumping as she exaggerates her pouts. "You mean wait that long!"

Juvia giggles and she lets go of Cana's hand. "Come on you dork, Juvia really should get you back home soon."

Cana straightens and laughs, gently tugging Juvia's arm to slow her down. She walks up next to her, wrapping an arm around Juvia's shoulders and kissing her forehead. "I'm glad you liked tonight Blue. Stress lines don't suit you." Cana's arm tightens around her shoulders and Juvia snuggles into Cana's side. "I'll take you up on that offer for a kiss if it's still on the table though."

Juvia giggles and pulls away, gesturing to the path. "She'll give it to you at the bottom of the hill."

Cana snorts and walks forward, carefully navigating down the steep dark hill. Juvia squints through the dim lighting and cautiously following Cana down, pausing briefly when the two hit the loose dirt part of the hill. Cana hits flat ground a minute before Juvia will and turns to beam at Juvia.

"Do I still get a kiss?"

Juvia snorts, looking up from the ground to grin at Cana. "Of course, Juvia loves kissing yo-"

A sharp, pinching pain in her ankle makes Juvia stumble and fall forwards, a startled cry bubbling up her throat. The world seems like it's in slow motion as Cana's eyes widen and she lunges towards Juvia, the loose gravel on the ground making her slip into a lunge as she throws her arms out to catch Juvia.

Juvia falls against Cana with a loud _oof_, her nose banging painfully against Cana's shoulder. She yelps as Cana twists around her, carefully setting Juvia down as she leans against Juvia's back to offer support.

"Oh my god, Juvia! Are you alright?"

Juvia wriggles her ankle, hissing as it throbbed. "Juvia's fine," she says, sitting upright. "She just turned her ankle."

Cana huffs from behind her, plopping her chin on Juvia's shoulder. "Thank goodness, that was terrifying." Cana pulls back, making sure Juvia can sit upright before standing up and offering her hand to Juvia. "Do we need to go to the E.R. for it?"

Juvia grips Cana's hand and tugs herself up, being sure to keep as much weight off her tender ankle as she could. Cana's hands hover by her shoulders and Juvia rolls her eyes in fond amusement. "Really Cana, Juvia's fine. It's just a turned ankle; some ice and rest and it'll be good as new."

Cana frowns at her, her eyebrows still creased in worry. "You sure?"

Juvia snorts. "Yes silly, she is. She appreciates the concern but you don't need to worry about it." She slips her fingers through Cana's and points in the general direction of the suites. "You and Juvia should get going."

Cana snorts and twists in front of Juvia, awkwardly bent over as she presents her back to Juvia. "You should probably keep weight off your ankle."

Juvia frowns. "But the walk's so long…"

Cana shoots her a dry look over her shoulder. "_Juvia_."

Juvia sighs, pulling herself onto Cana's back while ignoring the growing warmth in her chest. Cana hooks her hands under Juvia's thighs and straightens, pausing for a moment to let Juvia situate herself before trotting back towards the suites.

Juvia ducks her head into Cana's shoulder, twisting her head so that she could nuzzle Cana's neck. "Thank you, Cana."

Cana hums, her hands lightly squeezing Juvia's thighs. "No problem Blue, I'm rather fond of making sure you're alright."

Juvia snorts into Cana's neck, her thighs tightening around Cana's waist. She twists so that her chin is resting on Cana's shoulder and grins when she sees the edge of Cana's smile. "You're not shivering anymore."

Cana chuckles. "You make an excellent sweater Blue. I should just carry you around, you're much softer too."

"You're not going to spout poetic stuff about Juvia's love filling you up and warming your soul?" Juvia quips.

Cana snorts and twists her head to grin at Juvia. "That too."

Juvia smothers her laugh in Cana's shoulder, her grin growing as Cana's shoulders shake as well. She hums thoughtfully and squeezes herself closer to Cana. "You know," she murmurs into Cana's ear, her nose bumping the delicate skin. "Juvia never gave you her promised kiss."

Cana rolls her shoulders. "You know I'm not worried about that."

"But Juvia does," she murmurs, carefully letting go of Cana's shoulder to sweep her hair back and over the opposite shoulder, admiring Cana's neck. Cana twists her head slightly to see what Juvia was doing and Juvia takes the opportunity to press a kiss to Cana's soft neck, right under her delicious looking jaw line.

Juvia bites her lip when she realizes Cana's stopped. She peeks up from underneath her bangs, her breath catching in her throat as Cana's eyes glitter in the weak starlight and the way her flushed cheeks framed them beautifully.

Cana's lips twitch into a sheepish grin. "You really love to make me blush, don't you Blue?"

Juvia raises her eyebrow. "Juvia has to make sure you don't have any chance of getting cold."

Cana rolls her eyes. "You nerd. I need to take you out on Friday night and return the favor."

Juvia grins happily and and kisses Cana's cheek. "It's a date. Juvia can't wait."

* * *

AN: I know I haven't gotten around to answering reviews/sending thank yous like I normally do and I'm sorry for that, I've been a bit swamped by rl and some personal drama. I really appreciate everyone's feedback though, I did a lot of smiling that day. Also, I know I keep promising a NaLu centric chapter and I did mean to have this chapter be a NaLu chapter but this chapter got finished first instead. I have an idea I really love for next chapter though (hint: it's move-in day for the dorms) and I'll try to finish it up and post it but that will probably vary on how excited/motivated I am to write as I do my best at being a responsible student/adult.

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	11. Lucky Boy

Title: Lucky Boy

Summary: Natsu's one lucky bastard.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Gray groans as a loud banging noise interrupts his sleep. He grumbles and flips over on his side, covering his head with his pillow. Natsu can deal with it.

But, the banging noise continues and he pulls his pillow tighter around his ears. The noise only grows louder, this time accompanied by someone shouting his name.

Gray curses and kicks out, hoping his bedmate would go get the door for him. But, he's only met with cold sheets and Gray grudgingly pulls his head from his pillow and blinks at the empty sheets next to him.

_Must've left early_, he thinks, flopping back down to get some more shut eye. He snuggles into his warm sheets, ten seconds from drifting off again when the knocker bangs on his door again. Gray curses and throws his sheets off him, chucking his pillow at the door for good measure. He yawns as he shuffles over to the door, a stream of curses running through his head.

"Gray!"

Gray rolls his eyes and grunts, yawning one last time as he fumbles for the doorknob. He scratches his stomach and yanks his door open, leveling a glare at whatever asshole decided to wake him up this early.

Erza pauses mid knock, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a silent shout. The looming stranger behind her gapes for a moment before slamming his eyes shut and slapping his hand over them.

"You might not want to do that kid," the stranger grumbles.

Gray rubs the sleep out of his eyes and he eyes the tower of a man over Eza's red hair. The burly man twists his head around, still blocking his profile with one hand. Gray blinks in confusion at the stranger. "Huh?'

The stranger doesn't answer and Gray yawns again to hide his irritation. It's way too early in the morning to be dealing with this type of shit. "What do you want?"

"Gray."

Gray's attention snaps down and all thoughts of sleep immediately fly out the window when he finally pays attention to Erza. Erza's head is tilted down, her bangs shadowing her eyes and Gray steps back when she clenches her fist

Erza's growls and snaps her head up, her eyes still scrunched tight. "Don't answer the door naked!"

"What?" Gray looks down and yelps when he realizes that he is, in fact, naked. Gray's cheeks flush and he runs to grab some sort of cover, eventually grabbing the corner of his bed sheet. He tries to yank the thing over himself but, the sheet snags and Gray curses as he tugs on the thing harder, eventually just pulling the sheet off his bed completely and draping it over himself like a toga. "I could've sworn I had put some on after..." he mutters. Gray freezes when he remembers their reaction to his chosen pajamas, a small grin tugging at his lips as he thinks over last night's activities.

The stranger clears his throat awkwardly, interrupting Gray's musings and Gray looks over at the man, who has his hand is still clapped over his eyes. "Are you dressed?"

Gray huffs. "I'm not naked."

The stranger peeks through his fingers before lowering his hand and grinning. He hesitantly follows Erza into the room, eventually settling himself on the edge of Natsu's bed. The man's dark eyes dance with amusement and Gray wonders where he's seen them before. "I see Natsu wasn't exaggerating about you."

Gray eyes the stranger warily. "Who are are you?"

The stranger grins. "I'm Igneel. Natsu's dad."

Gray adjusts his makeshift toga and yawns again. "What are you doing here? And where's flames for brains?"

Igneel snorts. "Flames for brains?"

Gray's brain finally catches up and he freezes as the muscles in Igneel's arms bulge. He doesn't relax when Igneel roars with laughter.

"Gotta say that's one of the better ones I've heard so far," Igneel chortles. "Do you know where my errant son is?"

Gray blinks. "No. Did you try texting him?"

Gray sees Erza cross her arms over her chest out of the corner of his eye. "Natsu won't answer his phone. We were hoping you knew."

Gray shrugs. "No clue. Why?"

Igneel grins toothily. "I was in the neighborhood and figured I'd visit. Maybe even treat him and his cousin or a friend to dinner. I figured he'd be in here or in the gym up to mischief."

Gray scratches the back of his head and yawns. "Sorry, I have no idea. You might try Lucy though, she usually knows." A voice tickles his ear and Gray cocks his head to the side. "Actually, I think that's her voice coming down the hall."

Erza perks up and pokes her head outside. "Oh good, Natsu! You have a visitor."

"Eh?"

Natsu walks inside and his face splits in a grin. "Hey dad!"

Igneel grins and waves to his son before turning to look at Lucy, who's standing in the door next to Erza. "You must be Lucy," he says warmly.

Lucy blinks, seemingly just now paying attention to the conversation around her, and pauses as she waves goodbye to Erza. She cocks her head and stares at Igneel, her blonde braids tumbling over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm Lucy. Um, not to be rude but, who are you? And how do you know me?"

Natsu dumps his backpack onto his desk before bouncing over to Igneel. "This is my dad, Igneel!"

Igneel stands up to grab Natsu in a headlock and gives him a knuckle sandwich. He ignores Natsu's protests and grins up at Lucy. "I've heard so much about you, I'd be surprised if I didn't recognize you." Igneel smiles deviously and Gray perks up. "After all," he drawls. "According to this idiot, you're the sweet and gorgeous blonde who smells nice."

"Dad!"

Igneel laughs. "Did you know he stopped complaining about his hair so much after you complimented it?"

Natsu yanks his head out of Igneel's grip and whirls around in an attempt to physically cover Igneel's mouth (something that might have worked if Natsu was three inches taller). "Dad! Shut. Up."

Lucy's eyes are wide and her cheeks darken. "Really?" she squeaks.

"No, Lucy, I didn't mean any of it like that! Not that it isn't all true. Oh, err, I don't…" Natsu tugs on his hair before punching Igneel's arm. "Why'd you do that?!"

Gray snorts as Igneel laughs. He should get the guy's phone number, he's a treasure trove of dirt on Natsu.

Igneel ruffles Natsu's hair. "Let's just say it's payback for not answering your phone. Why am I even paying for it if you won't take calls from your old man?"

"Dad," Natsu whines. "I was in the library. In the quiet zone. You can't just answer your phone there, duh."

Gray blinks and rubs his ear. Did he just hear what he thinks he heard?

Igneel looks just as lost. "You...you were in the _library_?"

Natsu crosses his arms over his chest and huffs. "Yes. Just ask Lucy, she was there too."

Igneel's eyes snap to Lucy. "Seriously? How?"

Lucy cocks her head to the side. "Yeah, he went. I talked him into it."

Igneel narrows his eyes at Lucy and looks her up and down. He walks towards Lucy until he's an arm's length from her, rubbing his chin. "What are you using to blackmail my son?"

"_What_?"

"_Dad_!"

Igneel waves them both off. "No, seriously. I've tried for years to get Natsu to study there, there's no other way for this to have happened. He always claims it's too quiet though." Igneel slaps his hands together. "You want to join the two of us for dinner?"

Lucy's eyes widen. "Eh?"

Igneel nods vigorously. "Natsu is always complaining about the cafeteria food. It sucks, right? Seriously, I'll treat you to whatever you want, you performed a miracle."

Lucy tugs on one of her braids. "Er, thank you?"

Igneel smiles and grips Lucy's hands reverently. "No, _thank you_."

Natsu groans and slaps his forehead. He runs in between Lucy and Igneel, pushing Igneel away and around Lucy. "Get out! Go stand in the hall or something while I grab some things. Just. Go."

Igneel laughs and walks out, waving goodbye to Gray. He laughs even louder when Natsu grabs Lucy's wrist and drags her inside.

Lucy blushes. "Wait, what? Natsu!"

Natsu glares at his father. "No way am I letting you stay out there. He's creepy and mean and will corrupt you. You shouldn't be around his influence too much."

Gray laughs with Igneel as Lucy sputters incoherently and Natsu slams the door in his dad's face. He bangs his forehead against the doorframe and doesn't move. "Sorry about him Lucy."

Lucy's lips twitch in amusement and Gray snorts. "Your dad's awesome. What the hell happened with you?"

"Shut it you pervy popsicle! And put some clothes on!"

Gray rolls his eyes. "So you were actually in the library?"

Natsu turns to glare at him. "Yes."

Gray raises his eyebrow but, his retort is cut off when Lucy giggles.

Lucy laughs again. "You're the luckiest guy ever Natsu. Can you believe your dad actually showed up for a visit the only time you've ever been to the library? He even did it in the ten minutes you were gone!"

Natsu rolls his eyes. "All I needed was a signature from the librarian, why would I stay for any longer? Just don't tell him that or he'll never let me hear the end of it."

* * *

AN: I know I had said this chapter would be the move-in day chapter but that one isn't coming out the way I want it to and I don't see much point in not giving you guys a completed chapter just because the other one isn't done yet (and this one has some NaLu stuff so yay that lol). Plus, idk when I'll be able to work on the move-in day chapter with midterms, finals, and the holidays coming up. I might have a few others that are almost done that I can publish soonish though so we'll see what happens. I'd really appreciate to hear some feedback on this chapter, thanks for reading! (Wait, forgot a note earlier: I'm sorry for not getting back to everyone like I normally do (rl has been a bit too demanding for me) but thank you so so much to everyone who's reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this, y'all are wonderful.)

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	12. That's Not My Name

Title: That's Not My Name

Summary: Simon did not agree to this.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**.

* * *

AN: Warning for referenced sex. Nothing explicit (literally just a brief mention of it) but heads up just in case.

* * *

The walls press in on his shoulders and Simon tries to remember how the hell Erza had talked him into this. Simon fidgets, trying to regain some feeling back into his bum. He rolls his shoulders and winces at the bruises that are most definitely forming there.

The walky-talky on his hip crackles to life. "This is Scarlet-Cutlass to Burly-Bloodhound, over."

Simon sighs and tries not to pinch his brow too hard. He picks up the walky-talky, fumbling with the switch. "Erza," he says slowly, letting his head fall back against the wall with a dull _thump_. "We are not doing code names. Especially not those ones."

Erza grumbles, the words lost in the static. Simon shifts again as he waits. The walky-talky crackles. "How about Falcon Storm and Mr. Bean?"

Simon snorts. "No. We have names Erza, let's use them."

Erza pauses. "But what's the fun in that? We're spies Stalking Chicken, we need code names."

"I'm not going to let you call me Stalking Chicken."

Erza sighs. "Fine. Status report?"

Simons looks up at the ceiling in exasperation. "Clear."

"No you're not!" Simon blinks down at his walky-talky. "I can see you, you didn't even check the hall!"

Simon looks over his shoulder, squinting as he looks through the dusty window and his reflection. "How the hell can you see me?"

"Just check the hall! Operation: Catch Devils cannot fail. Now, Bloody Prince, status report."

Simon snorts and exaggerates looking up and down the hall. "Erza, it's empty. Can you stop with the code names now?"

Erza's silent for a minute and Simon sighs in relief. He begins to stand up when the walky-talky crackles to life again. "Keen Chariot, why are you leaving your station?"

Simon curses under his breath and plops back down. "Erza, Natsu and Levy are not going to be caught by us pretending to play spies. How'd you talk me into doing this anyways?"

"You promised. Still clear on my end, Lonely Warrior out."

Simon frowns. "When did I promise this? And can we stop with the code names already?"

"Cuddly Biscuit, you fail as a spy. You promised me you'd help catch the Unholy Terrors."

Simon rubs the back of his head and presses his lips together. "Erza, don't call me Cuddly Biscuit. And I did not promise to do this."

Erza scoffs and Simon can picture her rolling her eyes. "You said you'd help me by doing anything. Now, if I had known the Exalted Dragonfly was so obnoxious, I might not have been so keen on your help. Still clear on your end?"

Simon squints through the window again. "Yup, all clear," he says distractedly. "Oh, and when I said I would help, I never promised I would do anything."

"Yes you did, Dangerous Dragon. Now be a good spy and stop trying to get out of your promise."

"I'm pretty sure all great spies have to be great liars and break promises all the time anyways." Simon freezes, staring at the walky-talky in disbelief as sparkling eyes and mischievous smiles dance across his mind's eye.

"But _you_ don't break your promises."

Simon clears his throat, vaguely recalling Erza pressed up against him with her hair tangled in his as they fell asleep, indistinguishable words floating through with the memory. "Wait, did I promise I do this last night?"

"Yes!" Erza huffs. "I can't believe you already forgot."

Simon takes a deep breath and pinches his brow. "I was falling asleep! After sex! Those promises are null and void." Simon grits his teeth and stares at the ceiling in frustration. "You would have been falling asleep too if it weren't for your ridiculous stamina," he grumbles.

"If it's so inconvenient and exhausting to you, we can just stop. And it doesn't matter when it happened, you still promised."

Simon snorts. "No need to stop, I just need to remember to not talk at all afterwards. And by the way, it's not sporting to take advantage of me when I'm like that." His stomach grumbles and Simon absently scratches it, his eyes trailing over the empty hall. "You wanna go get lunch? My treat."

"This is no time for food! I'm warning you, sweet words won't get you out of this."

Simon ignores her and stands up, sighing happily as he stretches and hears his back pop.

"Great Castle, stay at your post!"

Simon raises his walky-talky to his lips, turning to grin out the window. "So, me and Gajeel found this awesome burger joint the other night…" Scarlet hair flashes behind some bushes and Simon chuckles to himself as he walks down the hall to the stairwell.

Simon trots down the stairs, pressing his lips together to keep from laughing as Erza's grumbles over the walky-talky. Just as he gets to the bottom of the stairs, Erza yanks the door open and marches up to him.

"You are a horrible spy, Tense Diamond."

Erza's cheeks puff out in a pout and Simon chuckles. He cups the back of her head and ducks down to kiss Erza, grinning against her soft lips as she kisses him back. He pulls away minutely, resting his forehead against hers. "Now, let's drop this and go get a burger, yeah?"

Erza pokes his chest. "No, I wanna catch Levy and Natsu."

Simon snorts and straightens. "Those two are master pranksters. They're not going to be caught by us and certainly not when we're so obvious." Simon flicks her freckled nose gently, his grin growing as she wrinkles her nose adorably. "Stop being a RA for two seconds and get some lunch. Like I said, my treat."

Erza crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes at him. "You have horrible work ethic, Tense Dasher."

Simon chuckles, bringing her head closer to him. He eyes her pout and licks his lips. "Shut _up_, Red."

* * *

AN: _I'm still a little iffy on this one tbh but I'm still so upset over Erza's character after that god awful Christmas Special that I'm just gonna post this before I delete it out of sheer irritation. I hope you enjoyed it, esp since idk how often Erza is going to pop up in this later. :(_

_In case there's confusion, Erza is trying to catch Levy and Natsu red-handed during one of their pranks (there is a dorm-wide prank war happening at this time in the fic and Levy and Natsu are the_ ultimate_ prank masters and I should probably write that chapter soon). As a heads up for what might come along in the next few chapters: there's a Mira and Gajeel brotp chapter I'd like to try to finish and publish for Valentine's Day (how well I stick to that deadline is anyone's guess), I might be able to finish up the Gajeel and Mira first meeting chapter soon, and I'd really like to finish the move-in day chapter with Natsu and Lucy (Levy too) before I publish two other chapters (though if that chapter doesn't come along in a bit or if I get distracted by the jerza one-shot again, I'll probably just publish the other two anyways tbh)._

_That aside, thank you so, so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and/or followed this fic. I haven't been able to thank everyone like I normally do bc Life but pls know I appreciate and adore everyone one of you! If you have any questions, feel free to ask here or on my tumblr._

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	13. Wrong Address

Title: Wrong Address

Summary: Mira barrels into Gajeel's life in a blur of righteous fury and underwear catalogues.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

AN: Haven't manage to finish the Valentine's fic yet but welcome to the start of Gajeel's and Mira's wonderful friendship lol.

* * *

Gajeel is having a wonderfully normal day. Maybe it's a bit boring and his homework a bit tedious but, the sun is shining, his music is soothing, and everything is perfectly normal just as it should be.

Or at least it was right up until Lily walks into their room and slams a stack of bra catalogues onto Gajeel's desk.

Gajeel blinks at the sudden onslaught of pink before laughing. "Really Lily?"

Gajeel smirks as he picks up one of the thin catalogues. There's a half naked blonde stretched across the cover and Gajeel waves it at Lily. "I wouldn't think you'd be so desperate as to order Victoria's Secret catalogues. Do people even get off on these?" Gajeel pauses as he registers the sentence and grimaces. "Wait, nevermind, I really don't want to know."

Lily snorts. "Good, because I wasn't giving you the talk." Lily walks past Gajeel and grabs a book off his desk before flopping down onto his bed. "Besides, your joke would be a lot funnier if you weren't the recipient. Good attempt at a prank though."

"What?" Gajeel stares at Lily before rolling his eyes and turning back to his homework, carelessly shoving the catalogues off his desk. "_I_ didn't order those."

Gajeel can actually feel Lily's shrug from behind him. "Whatever you say. It's still your name on the catalogues."

Gajeel snorts and reaches down to grab a catalogue. "Yeah right," he says as he flips the catalogue over to see the shipping address, "It's probably just a mix-up and- hey!"

"What?"

Gajeel stares at the catalogue in shock. Or more specifically, he gapes at the tiny gray print stamped on the catalogue's recipient box. "That's my name!"

"That's what I said two seconds ago."

Gajeel turns around and stares at Lily, the slightest vestiges of betrayal floating around inside of him. "This isn't funny Lily. I never took you to be a prankster."

Lily's face twists into a grimace and he glares at Gajeel, his broad shoulders hunched in offence. "Excuse you, you know nothing! I am a _brilliant_ prankster. I would never lower myself to such a stupidly childish prank."

Gajeel raises his eyebrows and huffs. "Well _I _didn't do it, who else is there?"

A light knock cuts off Lily's retort. Lily growls. "Come in."

A girl slowly pushes the door open and pokes her head in, her white-blonde hair cascading down her black and white shoulders. She smiles and pushes the door open a little wider and slides in. "Hi, I'm Mirajane. I live down the hall. I was wondering if you got some of my mail?"

Gajeel exchanges a look with Lily. Lily just raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. "Nope. Everything in the mail was addressed to us."

Mirajane laughs lightly. "Well, it's not exactly that simple." Her lips curl into a grin as her eyes flick around the room before landing on the scattered catalogues. She perks up. "Hey, there they are!"

Gajeel blinks for a moment before scowling. "_You're_ the one who ordered those?!"

Mirajane swoops down and quickly stacks the catalogues into a neat pile. "Sorry," she says cheerfully, completely unapologetic, "but I can only have six sent to my address and Victoria's Secret catalogues always come with coupons. Their stuff is expensive if you don't have at least ten different discounts per purchase." Mirajane looks up from where she's stacking the catalogues to beam at Gajeel. "You don't mind, right?"

Gajeel opens his mouth to yell at her but Lily cuts him off. "It's fine." He shoots Gajeel a look that tells him to shut up before turning back to Mirajane. "We don't care. Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to read my book and I'd like some quiet."

Mirajane smiles. "Thanks! I'll just come by every now and then to pick up the catalogues, okay?"

Gajeel opens his mouth to protest but, Lily glares at him. "Shush. Take the fight outside if you want but I've been waiting for over a year for this book to come out and I want two hours of quiet peace to read it."

Gajeel scowls and Lily glares right back. _Not worth it..._

_Fine_. If Lily feels that way, then he can help the girl get her discounts. Gajeel rolls his shoulders and turns back to his homework, deciding to ignore the other two people in the room. Just as he puts his pen to the paper, an indignant cry distracts him.

Gajeel looks up to see Mirajane glaring at a catalogue as she violently flips through the pages. He sighs. "What?"

Mirajane's glare snaps towards him and Gajeel's surprised at the ice in it. "Why'd you take the coupons?"

"What?"

Mirajane shakes the catalogue, the pages crinkling and flapping obnoxiously. "All the coupons are gone! Why'd you take them, _you_ sure as hell don't need them."

Gajeel holds up his hands in surrender. "I didn't touch those things beyond pushing them off my desk. If anything, Lily was-"

"Nope."

Gajeel huffs and his glare flicks to Lily, who ignores him as he turns a page in his book. Gajeel rolls his eyes and turns to meet Mirajane's glare with his own. "Look, I didn't take them. It must have been the mailman or whoever stashes the...mail…"

Mirajane raises her eyebrow. "What?"

Gajeel blinks. "Who stocks the mailboxes?"

Mirajane cocks her head to the side, still scowling. "The RAs, why?"

Gajeel blinks as he remembers the RA with the dirty blonde hair giving odd looks earlier that week. Heck, that RA has been giggling and waggling her eyebrows at him for _weeks_ by now, not that Gajeel could ever figure out why.

_Is that why she had thanked me yesterday?_

The RA's giggles ring through his head as Gajeel groans and drops his head onto his desk. "_Oh_. So that thing was all _your_ fault."

Mirajane stands up, hands on her her hips and foot tapping impatiently. "What's all my fault?"

Gajeel shifts his head so that he can glare at Mirajane again. "That one RA- Bisca. She keeps giving me these _looks_ and I bet it's because she thinks I'm ordering those underwear catalogues for-" Gajeel's lip curls as he stumbles over his words- "_stuff_. She's probably the one who's been taking the coupons. After all, _I_ wouldn't need them."

Mirajane blinks before a dark scowl flicks across her face. "Oh _hell_ no, I put too much work into getting more of these things."

Gajeel snorts and turns back to his homework, inwardly groaning at the thought of having of explain himself to the RA later. Mirajane is still muttering up a storm behind him and Gajeel turns his back to her as he tries to pretend this whole thing never happened.

Maybe if he ignores her, Mirajane will just disappear.

"_Well_?"

The word weighs heavy on his shoulders and Gajeel whirls around to face Mirajane's stony expression. "Huh?"

Mirajane huffs angrily and her speckled fingers twitch on her hips. She looms over him, surprisingly intimidating for someone who's half a foot shorter than him.

_Maybe I should stand up_.

Mirajane narrows her dark blue eyes at him. "_You_ are going to help me get those coupons back."

Gajeel's mental thought process stutters to a halt. "I...what?"

Mirajane clamps a hand around Gajeel's bicep and starts walking out the door, dragging Gajeel out of his seat with surprising ease.

_What the- How strong is this woman?!_

Gajeel tries digging in his heels as protest, throwing all his weight and strength into an attempt to stop the light haired girl.

He doesn't even slow her down.

"But why do I have to do it?" he whines.

Mirajane shoots him a disappointed look over her shoulder. "Aren't you mad the RAs are stealing parts of your mail?"

Gajeel gapes at the back of her head. "But they're not mine?"

Mirajane yanks him closer, twining her arm with his as she drags him down the hall and towards the stairwell. "They're addressed to you. You just haven't given them to me yet. Soooo," Mira drawls, swinging around the corner and ignoring the way he stumbles behind her. She reaches the stairwell and marches down without pausing.

Gajeel only manages to keep his feet underneath him thanks to her iron grip.

(And he most certainly does not yelp when he nearly falls down the first flight.)

"We're gonna go get your property back and make sure she never steals them again!"

Mirajane yanks him upright and beams at him. Gajeel gets half a second to organize his thoughts before she's rambling about rude RAs and bothersome coupon thieves again, completely oblivious to his exasperation.

By the third flight of stairs, Gajeel just groans mentally and resigns himself to the craziness. Surely if he just goes along, everything would be back to normal in half an hour with no more overly enthusiastic girls dragging him around on bizarre requests.

Right?

* * *

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	14. I met God She's Black

Title: "I met God. She's black"

Summary: And she wears some killer heels too.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**.

* * *

Natsu crosses his arms and proudly admires his new room. It's kind of dirty, in the way all dorm rooms look a little grimy. But, his bed is made, his refrigerator chilling sodas for him and Gajeel, a picture of him and his dad sits proudly on his desk, and Natsu couldn't be more excited. He bounces on his toes as he admires his half of the room, heart pounding as it finally hits him that he's about to start _college_.

"Oi, Natsu."

"Hmm?" Natsu looks over his shoulder as Gajeel pokes his head into his room. "What?"

Gajeel's scowling - _probably still grumpy over those rude frat guys_ \- and he jerks his head towards the hallway. "Come get the rest of your crap, I'm gonna get a ticket if I don't move my car soon."

Natsu gives his room one more look - _His room! In college!_ \- before bounding after Gajeel. Natsu bounces on his heels as he checks his pockets to make sure he has his keys before closing his door, turning to see that Gajeel is already at the stairwell and heading down it.

_Yeesh, he's in a rush_. Natsu sniffs and double checks his pockets and yanks on his door to make sure it's shut. He can already picture Gajeel grumbling over 'lazy cousins who make him do all the work' so he starts jogging down the hall, slipping around the odd parent as he aims for the stairwell.

Someone shouts behind him and Natsu yelps, easily whirling on his heels so that he can jog backwards. He sees a family at the end of the hall, two boys bickering as an RA shifts uneasily on their heels. A woman - _a sister?_ \- yells something and the commotion seems to die down quickly after that. Natsu shrugs as the drama ends and spins back around, wincing ruefully when he remembers that Gajeel is probably gonna need help grabbing his stuff and he really needs to get dow-

_Whack_.

"OW!"

Natsu crashes to the ground, nose throbbing from running into what felt like a brick wall. Something- no, several somethings rain down on his head and Natsu shouts as they hit and poke his head and shoulders.

_What the fuck_?

"Oh my god, did I just run into someone? You won't sue, right?"

Natsu clasps his nose and blinks some of the tears out of his eyes. A dull throb is making its way up to his head and Natsu almost yells at his assailant (the fact that _he_ ran into them is completely irrelevant to his throbbing everything) until his vision abruptly clears and turns red.

Or, more accurately, he realizes he's staring at the deadliest pair of heels he's ever seen in his life.

Now, Natsu may not have seen many heels before in his life (consequences of living with only his mountain of a dad) but even he can tell these heels are meant to kill. Bright red straps lace over painted toes and dainty feet, leading back to thin spikes for heels that Natsu can only gape at. The heels had to be at least five inches long - and could probably double as knives if needed - and Natsu is left in awe because _how the hell does anyone balance on those_?

"Hey are you okay?"

He manages to tear his eyes away from The Shoes and he follows dark, toned legs up to see a large cardboard box hovering over his head. Natsu yelps and scrambles back, his hands slipping on several oddly shaped objects as he tries to get away.

"Oh, sorry!"

The box descends and a pretty girl emerges from behind it. The girl's dark cheeks have a red tinge to them and she smiles nervously at him, twisting a few of her golden blonde braids around her ringed fingers. Natsu cocks his head at the sight, his eyes flicking between her sheepish expression and killer heels as he tries to merge the two images together.

The girl bends over and holds her hand out to him. "Hi, my name's Lucy. I'm really sorry about my shoes."

Natsu startles, finally looking around and realizing that several pairs of heels are scattered around him. His jaw drops at the multitude of colorful and strappy shoes, all of them with heels at least five inches tall. _Holy shit, does that one have an Eiffel Tower as a heel?!_

"Um, hey?"

Natsu snaps his attention back to the hand offered to him and laughs, his expression probably mirroring her sheepish one. "Right, sorry," he says as he grabs her hand and lets her haul him up. He cranes his head back - _damn, she's almost as tall as Gajeel!_ \- and beams up at her. "I'm Natsu. I love your shoes."

Lucy's sheepish smile melts into a large grin. "Thank you! I love your shirt."

"Huh?" Natsu quickly glances down at his shirt, taking half a second to read the words '_I met God. She's black_' printed across his chest before grinning back up at her. "Oh, thanks! It's my favorite. Want any help picking up your stuff?"

Surprise flicks across Lucy's face before she nods eagerly, several braids slipping over her shoulders as she bends down to start gathering shoes. "Yes please." She smirks at him, her dark eyes sparkling playfully. "If you don't mind helping me pick up all the things that bonked you on your head a minute ago."

Natsu shrugs and cracks a grin. "Eh, I'm made of tough stuff, it didn't hurt that much."

His nose throbs. Natsu mentally tells it to go away.

"Besides," he says, pausing to admire the embellished boot-like heel and flowery shoe he had just grabbed, "I wanted to check out some of these heels." His eyes flick to the cardboard box filled to the brim with shoes and idly wonders if both he and Gajeel could squeeze themselves into it if it were empty.

_Hmm, probably not, maybe just me and Wendy…_

"You have a ton of them."

Lucy laughs as she carelessly tosses in shoes. "It certainly felt like a ton carrying them up three flights of stairs."

Natsu stoops down to pick up a couple more, accidentally bumping his shoulder against Lucy's. "Oh, sorry..." he says distractedly, her perfume tickling his nose.

_She smells really nice. Almost like...mangoes?_

Natsu places his armful of heels into the box before scanning the hall for any shoes he and Lucy might have missed. His eyes flick towards the box and his fingers itch as he wonders what all of the shoes look like. "Are you gonna wear all of these?"

Lucy's smile slips off her face as she narrows her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. Natsu stiffens marginally at her cool look, desperately backtracking as he tries to figure out if he said anything wrong.

"You know, people keep saying that I brought too much stuff and I'm just going to be taking all of these shoes back home. But, I only brought the ones I wore _at least_ twice over the summer. So yeah, _duh._"

Nasu perks up, ignoring the bite in Lucy's tone. "Oh, so I'll get to see them all at some point? 'Cause you have some pretty awesome shoes Luce."

Lucy looks startled for a minute before her lips twitch into a smile again. "Oh I like you," she says, chuckling to herself. She scoops up her box of heels with ease and Natsu's mouth goes dry when he realizes that Lucy's biceps perfectly reach his eye level.

_Holy shit she's strong._

Lucy grins down at him. "Thanks for helping me pick up all of my shoes. See ya around Natsu!"

Natsu blinks as Lucy glides down the hall, his mouth falling open as Lucy seems to float on her spiky heels.

_How the hell does she not trip every three steps_?

His staring is interrupted by a sharp smack to the head. "Oww!" Natsu whirls, his fist swinging out in a punch.

It collides with Gajeel's bicep and pain blooms along Natsu's knuckles. His cousin just raises an eyebrow at him, looking grumpier than usual. "I didn't agree to help you move in just so that you could gape at pretty girls instead."

Natsu's snarky response dies on his tongue at the reminder of his new friend. "Oh man Gajeel, I gotta introduce you to Luce later. She's so cool and has the most _amazing_ shoes…"

* * *

AN: Fun fact about Curveballs- Lucy's black. Hell everyone's a poc, barring like two white people (which would be Laxus and Jet). So, unless otherwise stated, assume the characters are poc. If you want me to list what everyone's ethnicities are, ask me on tumblr.

Also, incase there's any confusion: Lucy is 5'11 in this AU. She wears almost exclusively 5" heels, which makes her look around Gajeel's height (6'4). Her appeared height also varies on what hairstyle she has at the time (it changes fairly often). Oh, and Natsu is still my adorable smol son, reaching at 5'4 if he stands up real straight and the person measuring fudges the numbers a bit (aka, he's 5'3 and ¼" and that last ¼ is very important).

*jazz hands*

_77-cookies . tumblr . com_


	15. Of Paint and Glitter

Title: Of Paint and Glitter

Summary: Natsu's gonna look fabulous and he knows it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Natsu knocks against the doorframe as he skips into Lucy's and Levy's room. Levy twists her head awkwardly, careful not to move her hand from Lucy's grip, and she grins a 'hello' at him. Lucy, who's stretched out on the floor with her long legs neatly tucked underneath her desk, only acknowledges him with a brief flick of her dark eyes before she concentrates on Levy's nails again. Gajeel grunts from Levy's bed, his nose buried in one of her recommendations as he stretches over her duvet on his back.

"Yo," Natsu says before a sharp, harsh scent burns his nose. "What stinks?"

Lucy's brow puckers but she doesn't look up. "You never smell nail polish before?"

Natsu cocks an eyebrow and he sidles up to Levy, carefully pulling her blue locks back so he can peer over her shoulder. "Wendy's polish doesn't smell like this," he explains absently as he admires the shimmery line Lucy's carefully adding to Levy's nail.

Gajeel grunts. "Wendy likes gels better. They smell different."

"Oh." Natsu cocks his head to the side and whistles when he recognizes the elaborate faery wings Lucy's currently painting on Levy's nails. "Damn Luce, you're good."

Lucy perks up and grins at him, the sudden movement causing a few of her dreads to slip over her shoulder. "Thanks! Gajeel gives surprisingly good tips."

"_Surprisingly_?"

Lucy and Levy snicker. Lucy tucks a dread behind her ear, her blonde hair gleaming in the warm sunlight, and her dark cheeks split into a grin. "Hey Natsu, I'm almost done with Levy's nails. You want me to do yours next?"

"Ooh yeah! What color?"

Lucy gestures to a large purple bag on Natsu's left. "Just look through that and pick a few you like. You want me to do a design on your nails as well?"

Natsu shrugs as he pulls the bag closer to him, murmuring an apology when he accidentally bumps Levy's hip. "Maybe? I don't know." He tugs it into his lap, the little bottles tinkling merrily, and peers inside. His jaw drops. "You have a rainbow in a bag Luce."

Lucy laughs merrily, Levy's tinkling giggles joining in. Lucy drops the conversation to focus on Levy's nails, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she carefully adds another line of glitter polish to Levy's nails.

Levy carefully leans back, pausing to make sure she didn't jostle her hand and mess up Lucy's design, and smiles slyly. "I think Lu has a lovely shade of pink that matches your hair."

Natsu's shoulders stiffen and he growls at her. "Not funny Levy."

Gajeel snorts, lifting the book up high enough that he could raise his eyebrow at Natsu. "Gray still not letting the hair thing go?"

Natsu scowls. "Nope, still got another six months of it. Frostnuts even tried to make me dye it again because it wasn't the right shade of red or something." Natsu rolls his eyes. "The bastard won't get a room change either, he just wants to rub it all in."

Levy raises her eyebrows, her eyes darting to Gajeel's and back to Natsu. "Weren't _you_ the one who asked Gray to be your roommate?" Levy asks as she bumps Natsu's shoulder with hers, blithely ignoring Lucy's protest as her hand slips out of Lucy's grip.

"My team was winning back then! _He _was supposed to have _his_ hair dyed green!" Natsu ignores Gajeel's snicker and snide remark about plans backfiring as he aggressively rifles through Lucy's nail polish bag.

He catches Levy and Gajeel exchange gloating looks and secretive smirks out of the corner of his eye (yeah, _totally_ nothing going on there) and his scowl deepens. Natsu sticks his tongue out at them before grabbing a random bottle to present to Lucy. "This one's nice."

Lucy blows on Levy's nails before looking at the bottle Natsu was clutching. She hums as she plucks the dark green bottle out of his hand and holds it up in the sunlight, squinting as she inspects the way it shimmers. "It's nice but it's not quite the right shade of green for your skintone. It'd compliment Gajeel's darker skin better than yours." Lucy blinks, her warm brown eyes flicking towards Gajeel with a mischievous twinkle. "Hey Gajeel-"

"Nope."

Lucy blinks before huffing, her dark cheeks puffing out in a pout.

Natsu frowns at his cousin. "What's the matter with you? Too scared to have your nails painted?"

Gajeel lifts his book over his head to give Natsu a shrewd look, his brow pinched in confusion. "You were _right there_ when Wendy painted my nails over Thanksgiving break. You even complimented her choice of glitter nail polish."

Natsu raises his eyebrow. "And you won't let Luce do your nails because…?"

Lucy's pout deepens as she throws a q-tip at Gajeel, expression morphing into a pleading look. "_Please_ Gajeel? It will be so _pretty_ on you."

Gajeel sighs in exasperation. "No, I'm not allowed to have my nails painted at work." He rolls his eyes as he says, "It's 'unprofessional'."

Lucy sighs and she shakes the nail polish bottle sadly. "But still…"

Natsu scratches his head. "I thought you were using your vacation time for the holidays?"

"Still have to work 'til Saturday tho."

Lucy perks up and her mouth is only halfway open when Gajeel cuts her off.

"Yes, you can paint my nails then."

Lucy cheers, beaming at Gajeel as he rolls his eyes fondly. She turns back to her bag, which Levy is currently rooting through, and swats Levy's wrist. "Stop that, you'll ruin all my hard work!"

Levy puffs her cheeks out but surrenders the bag with ease. "I didn't damage anything," she says petulantly as she holds her hands out for Lucy's inspection. "I'm just trying to find a good one for Natsu."

Natsu hums as he shuffles through the bright bottles, puckering his lips as he holds up a light blue one for inspection. "Find any?"

Levy nods to a small cluster to her right. "The bright pink one."

Natsu drops his hand and glares at Levy, deftly dodging Gajeel's hand when he tries to smack the back of his head for doing so. "Meanie."

Levy raises her eyebrow, tapping a newly manicured nail against her freckled chin. "Even if it's called 'Dragonhide'?"

Lucy snorts over Natsu's gasp and reaches around Levy to snatch up the bottle. "It's seriously named that? What a weird-"

Natsu's hand closes over hers and she yelps. Lucy's eyes widen when she realizes Natsu is leaning over Levy's legs, ignoring Levy's grunts and protests as he stares up at Lucy with stars in his eyes. "Can you paint a _dragon_ on my nails?"

Lucy blanches. "Hell no, how the fuck would I do that?"

"What?" Natsu whines, slumping down on Levy's thighs. He ignores her as she tries to shove him off again and pouts at Lucy.

Lucy rolls her eyes and flicks his forehead. "Sorry, no can do. But…" she trails off, grabbing her bag and carelessly tossing little bottles out.

Natsu perks up, lifting himself off Levy enough that she can roll away from him. "What?" he asks, not noticing Levy swat his leg as he watches Lucy hopefully.

"Aha!" Lucy holds up a dark, shimmering bottle of polish (Natsu thinks it might be green but it's to dark to tell) and she grins at him, her teeth flashing against her dark lips. "You like green right?"

Natsu sticks his lower lip out and shrugs. He grabs the bottle and holds it up in the light, turning it over as he squints at the little gold flecks in the dark color. "It's pretty," he says, his eyes flicking back to Lucy. His brow puckers when he sees that Lucy's gone back to rooting through the bag. "Why?"

Lucy eyes a light green bottle critically before tossing it back in her bag. "I can't do a dragon, I'm not that good and your nails aren't big enough," she says as she pulls out a rich green color and smiles triumphantly. Her eyes flash back to his, a twinkle sparkling in the dark brown depths.

"But what about dragon scales?"

* * *

AN: While Gajeel and Natsu are too lazy to paint their own nails, they love letting their friends and/or Wendy do them.

_**Fight. **_

_**Me.**_

_77-cookies . tumblr . com_


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